Stolen Innocence Version 2
by Senkusha
Summary: Hild pays a visit to Mara, which can only spell trouble for the Goddesses. Specifically, Skuld when she is kidnapped and taken to America. While there she meets a friend who will change her life forever, and in the end must make the ultimate sacrifice!
1. Prologue

Stolen Innocence Version 2.0 - The Prologue

In 2007 I first wrote the story Stolen Innocence. While it was a fun story to write, often without a proofread, I found it both lacking and disturbing. I know that I could do much better, and have wanted to rework the story using more matured standards. This is revision of that story.

I have decided to merge the story Call of the Valkyrie within this new version, seeing as I never really completed that story arc, and have lost whatever plot I wanted to write about anyway. Speaking of plots, this new version of Stolen Innocence has been modified slightly. It is similar to the original story, but defiantly not the same story. I've added a few additional characters, which also be effect added additional plot points to the story.

The main reason I've wanted to rewrite this story was to remove quite a bit of the 'tartness' (Lemon related scenery) from the story. It's distracting, and I feel it's distasteful in its presented form. This new version of Stolen Innocence will remain suitable for teenagers to read (13+), being a drama, but also I wanted to bring out more of a romantic plot device, rather than a lustful one. The main 'pairing' character has also changed quite a bit. While originally, the pairing character of the original story was defiantly not a self-insert as some think, he was, not suited for the role.

I feel pleased with this revised version of the story, and hope that you all will enjoy this adventure as well if not more than the original version. I will not be removing the original version though. I have fond memories while I was typing it out, as well, it was my first openly published story, so while flawed, it does hold a special place in my heart.

I hope with kindness that you will read and critique this work, as I truly do want to better my writing style. I will be proofreading this story as I go, however, mostly it will be a story without much of a plan, like the first version was. I've found through trial and error, that flying by the seat of my pants is a lot more fun and exhilarating than writing a planned or outlined story. I recognize one of my writing flaws is... lack of descriptive dialog, by that I mean I tend to use a lot of "he said, she replied" stuff. This is something I want to desperately fix. Feel free to point out places where I've done this so I can revise it. I shall try my best to correct that before publishing each chapter here.

At this time, I want to give thanks to all the fans of the story, as well as to Mr. Kosuki Fujishima for creating the wonderful story and characters of Ah! My Goddess, that this story is based on, for without his creative imagination, none of this story would even be possible.


	2. Chapter 1: Demons, Goddesses, and Booze

**Disclaimer:**

* * *

_Ah! My Goddess_ and all of its associated characters, plot devices, and fictional settings are owned and maintained by its creator, Kosuki Fujishima ( © 1988 – 2010 ). Any other characters specifically created for this fictional work are fictitious. Any similarity to any persons, living or dead is purely coincidental.

Chapter One: Demons, Goddesses, and Booze.

Mara's Lair, August 5, 12:00 noon, Tokyo time.

"Resurrected again!" A tall blond with wavy hair exclaimed from her smoke filled tomb. "I hate this! No matter what I try, those pesky _goddesses_ always find a way to defeat me!" She paced back and forth, her hand on her chin. "This is no good. I need a good stiff drink to think." She commented to herself. In an instant she vanished from her lair and reappeared across the street from a local favorite Saki bar.

Walking inside, the place was a real dive. It was almost completely empty, aside from a group of drunks huddled around a little table in the back. One of which whistled loudly upon seeing the blond demon. Mara shrugged it off, and continued to the bar, where a rather bored bartender, sat on his stool, his chin propped up by his balled up fist.

"What can I get ya" He asked.

"I want the strongest stuff you got." Mara declared.

The bartender got up on the top shelf, and moved a few bottles to the side, finally grabbing a darkly tinted bottle of blue from the back. The bottle had sat so long, that a fine layer of dust had coated the top of the bottle.

"Here ya go." He said while retrieving a shot glass.

"Thanks. I'll just take the bottle." Mara responded and grabbed the bottle by its neck. She scanned for a quiet place to sit and drink, and think.

"Hey tuts!" The same guy who whistled earlier yelled out. Mara snapped around toward his direction, glaring dangerously at him. "Come sit and drink with us!"

"Drop dead." Mara replied coldly.

"Aw come on...we won't bite." He whined, getting up from his chair and dragged over a clean chair from a nearby table.

"Very well, but only because you insist on not leaving me be!" Mara cursed, taking her seat.

"It's very nice to meet you ---." The man said, prompting for her name. After an awkward silence, he resumed. "I'm Terry, this here is Andy on my left, and over there is Jeff."

"I'm Mara." She introduced, drawing out her name as she usually does. She took noticed of her three new friends as she took a swig from her blue bottle.

Terry looked like a big guy. He wasn't fat or anything, just very muscular and he sat tall, his mass consumed the space around his chair. Andy was kind of small compared to Terry. He had long blond hair that was held up in a manly tail. He sat there puffing on a cigarette, with an uneasy look in his eyes. His arms were folded on his chest and he sat back, leaning backwards on the back legs of his chair. Jeff on the other hand, had a short crew cut done to his black hair. He looked tough, his eyes yelled intimidation. His arms had various black and gray tattoos on them. He too was leaning back on his chair, but he had his black boots resting on the table. The treads had particles of stones and dirt stuck inside them.

"What ya having to drink there sweety?" Andy asked.

"The strongest stuff in this ... excuse for a bar." Mara answered dangerously.

"Sounds like you're having a rough time doll." Jeff finally commented.

Mara took another drink before answering. "You could say that -- " she paused before continuing, "But I really don't think you'd understand my dilemma."

"I've got an idea." Andy said with a grin on his face. "Let's play a game. I just happen to have a pair of dice with me. Let's have a drinking game to break the ice. Hows about it?"

Mara smiled, knowing that she could probably drink these guys under the table.

"Sure, why not. It sounds like fun." Mara agreed.

"Here's the rules. Snake eyes, twelve, and seven are all pounders. You take a beer and drink the entire thing in one shot. Odd numbers, you take a shot of the person's drink to the left, even numbers, take a shot from the person on your right." Andy explained.

"Sounds easy enough." Mara commented.

"Bartender! Lots of shot glasses, beers, and ...." he paused while glancing over at spirit selection. "Tequila, Peppermint Schnapps, Bourbon, and good old fashioned Vodka."

"Now, let's discuss your little problem." Jeff said daringly.

"Yeah -- we're good problem solvers." Terry added.

"Fine. I'll tell you." Mara offered, and slammed down four large gulps of the blue concoction the bartender gave her earlier. The three men at the table followed suit, slamming down their own beers.

A few moments later the bartender came over carrying a platter full of assorted spirits and shot glasses. He returned a moment later with a case of Amber bock beer.

"I'll just add this to your tab, Mac." the bartender commented as he finished.

"You see... there's this guy--" Mara began.

Terry started, rolled a three and a one, then Andy rolled, which he got a six and two, Jeff rolled, and he got a three and six. Finally Mara rolled, dropping the dice straight down on the table. Her roll was a three and four.

"Damn!" Mara said.

"What, you don't like lucky number seven?" Andy teased.

"Let's just say it's not my favorite number." Mara spat out as she pounded a beer down her throat.

"Anyway... You want him?" Andy resumed the other conversation.

Mara was slightly caught off guard by the curiosity. "Um... yeah." She answered briefly.

"But, there's a problem.... He's got a girl friend." Mara further explained.

Andy rolled, he got twelve. He happily chugged down the beer in front of him, loudly gulping as the foamy liquid burned down his throat.

"You want to get rid of her?" Andy asked after downing the beer.

"Well ... yes. but it's not that simple. Her and her two sisters are living with him." Mara grinned evilly at the thought of Keiichi being along once more.

Terry rolled, he got two fours. He picked a shot glass in front of Jeff, which was filled to the brim with Tequila, and downed it, slamming down the glass upside down on the table in front of him.

"Oh. Is that all? That's easy." Andy commented.

"Tell us about these girls." Terry added on.

Jeff rolled his turn, and got a two. Taking the beer in front of him, he poured it down is mouth, slightly elevated, not allowing the bottle to touch his lips. After which, he let out a rather large burp.

"It's not as easy as it sounds." Mara contradicted, looking at Andy, who skipped her and rolled a turn ahead of her, rolling a pair of threes.

"What do you mean....only a broad and her two sisters? We've handled harder before." Terry replied.

"They're goddesses." Mara dropped the bomb. "Belldandy, the middle one, the girlfriend of Keiichi, Urd, her older sister, and Skuld, the little brat kid sister. She began to describe the trio, and then swiped the dice from in front of Andy and rolled her own turn, getting yet another seven, this time a five and a two.

"Dammit!" She cursed, and downed another whole beer.

"Oh, so they're _good looking_ broads. Again, no problem." Terry corrected. "They all live under the same roof?" He tacked on.

"Yeah." Mara answered.

"Lucky guy." Jeff added, while rolling his turn, he got a one and a two. Taking the shot glass in front of Andy, filled with Schnapps, and down it, gently placing the shot glass upside down on the table in front of him.

Mara slapped her forehead. _How dense are these guys?_

"You'll give yourself a headache if you keep doing that sweetie-pie." Andy commented gently, and rolled his turn, he got a four and a two. Taking the Vodka shot glass he down it, as it burned down his throat. "Strong stuff!" He choked out.

"You don't get it. These .... women are real goddesses... with power!" Mara exclaimed. "Belldandy can control the wind...Urd can command lightning from the sky... and Skuld...well I'm really not sure about her. But she's a little nerd...her damn toys are always throwing me off." Mara explained further.

"Yeah. All good looking gals have power. It's not a problem. You want to get rid of three bomb-shells. That's really not a problem." Jeff finally commented again. He rolled, and got an eleven. Taking a shot glass filled with the Bourbon, he downed it quickly.

Mara looked at Jeff with shock filling her eyes. "These girls have handed me my own ass time after time. What makes you think you can defeat them?" Mara asked, and promptly rolled her dice, giving her an eleven.

"Shit!" Mara exclaimed at the lucky number. She promptly took a drink of Schnapps, which was supposed to be Bourbon instead. Andy caught the error, and passed a shot glass filled with the brown liquor in front of her.

"What?" Mara asked.

"You were supposed to drink _this_ one." Andy said calmly.

"Fine!" Mara said, taking the drink and slamming it down her throat. With a loud clank, she slammed the glass on the table afterwards.

"I'll tell you why we'll succeed while you failed." Jeff said plainly, cool and collected. Taking a shot of vodka for the hell of it. "Because we're not going to _defeat_ them. We're going to _separate_ them.

"How much will it cost?" Mara sheepishly asked.

Jeff did some rough calculations in his head. "Eh... five hundred thousand."

"Okay, I can do that. I'm not surprised it's more Yen." Mara commented.

"Oh, that's not Yen honey....we're talking good old-fashioned American Greenbacks." Andy interjected.

"WHAT?!" Mara screamed at Andy.

"You want this or not?" Jeff regained control of the conversation.

"Y--yeah. But I don't have that much." Mara explained.

"How much do ya got?" Terry asked.

"Mara did some thinking and finally gave her answer. "Fifty thousand. I can do Fifty, no more."

"Fine, we'll do the kid for that." Jeff asked. Smelling the fresh income in the air. "She'll be nice and easy for only fifty."

"Okay. I guess that'll work." Mara replied with a defeated tone in her voice.

"After we take the little one, the two older ones will be looking for their missing sister, and you can swoop in and take the guy off his feet while they're out." Jeff spoke a rough plan out loud. "They'll be out looking for her for a _long_ time." Jeff grinned evilly.

"What's the brat look like?" Terry asked.

Mara fished out a picture of the young raven haired goddess and gave it to the roughneck.

"Cute kid...." he paused. "She's kind of a freak -- wearing make up like that."

"She's born with those markings." Mara clarified.

"Hmph. Interesting" Andy commented.

"Fine. Bring us the money here tomorrow and we'll take care of your little problem." Jeff said as he got up from the chair, the other two goons followed his lead.

"Good. Until tomorrow." Mara replied and watched the three men walk out of the bar.

The bartender walked up to Mara and left a black plastic tray with a bill attached on the table.

"WHAT!? Twenty-three thousand yen!!" Mara exclaimed. Pissed she threw the money on the table and grabbed her blue bottle, storming out of the bar.

Returning to her lab, she had much planning to do. First, she'd have to come up with the money these guys wanted. That's easy enough. Robbing an ATM machine was child's play for her. What was more important was coming up with a way to seal Skuld's powers. Even if she couldn't call upon them now, she _can_ still teleport, and that would just ruin everything.

"_Make her forget._" A mysterious voice called out from nowhere.

"Huh? Who's there!" Mara demanded, scanning her lair, finding nobody there.

"The answer to your problem is quite simple Mara dear." A familiar voice echoed closer, finally a smoky form materialized in the center of her lair.

"Hild?" Mara asked in suspicion.

"The very one and the same." The older demon answered with a slick grin on her face.

"To make sure little Skuld dear doesn't use her power is quite simple. She's still young.... still naive.... still quite weak. Make her forget she's a goddess.... with this." Hild held out a small vial of black liquid.

"What is that?" Mara asked.

"Oh, it's a very old recipe I brewed up for just such an occasion. just make her ingest this and almost immediately, she'll forget who she is. It's foolproof." Hild explained calmly.

Mara reached to grab it, but Hild pulled her arm back. "Uh uh uhhhh" She said waving her other finger in the air.

"What do you want for it?" Mara asked disgruntled.

"A favor." Hild said, her evil laugh echoed through out Mara's lair.

"A favor?" Mara cringed at the though of what ever it could be.

"Yes. You've got your battles, and I have mine. Simply get my daughter, Urd to follow in my footsteps. It's that easy." Hild explained.

"Easier said than done Hild. ... Even for a First Class Demon." Mara shot back.

"It _is_ easier....now with your little friends helping. You see... If Belldandy _ever_ wants to see her darling little sister alive again, She'll go back to heaven, which will leave my daughter here on Earth alone. A simple matter of a trade...Urd for Skuld will make it a win-win for everybody. Belldandy gets Skuld home and safe, I get Urd, and you get your goddess _friends_ to return to Heaven. It's perfect." Hild explained.

"Wow, that might actually work." Mara commented to herself.

"Oh, and here's the money for your little pet project. I wouldn't want you getting arrested." Hild tossed a brown bag over to Mara before vanishing as quickly as she came.

Mara grinned from ear to ear. This plan, this time, was finally going to work. Her own laughter echoed through out her lair


	3. Chapter 2: Goddess Puberty

**Disclaimer:**

* * *

_Ah! My Goddess_ and all of its associated characters, plot devices, and fictional settings are owned and maintained by its creator, Kosuki Fujishima ( © 1988 – 2010 ). Any other characters specifically created for this fictional work are fictitious. Any similarity to any persons, living or dead is purely coincidental.

Chapter Two: Goddess Puberty

Tariki Hongan Temple, August 5, 3:00 pm, Tokyo time

It was just another typical day. The sun beamed in through the windows, giving the temple plenty of excess heat. Urd was watching television, lounging on the couch as she usually does. The sound of Skuld's door opening and then quickly slamming shut didn't arouse her any. Nothing could distract her from her favorite afternoon television soap opera.

Skuld approached the door to her older sister's room. She stood there, and held her breath, poised to knock, but then lowered her arm and walked away. A few moments later, she approached again, raising her arm, but stopping just shy of knocking. Making a hasty retreat the young Norn ran away again. She did this three or four more times before finally, gaining the courage to knock. The familiar face of Belldandy appeared in the door way.

"Skuld?" Belldandy answered cheerfully.

"Um.. Big Sis..?" Skuld asked reluctantly, her eyes shifting from left to right. She fondled a lock of her black hair in one hand behind her back.

"What is it? What's wrong?" She asked as she opened the door and let the little sister walk in. Belldandy quickly led Skuld over to her bed, and sat down in the middle, leaving enough room for her sibling to sit next to her. Skuld cautiously sat down on the bed and looked up at her bigger sister, tears almost filled her eyes.

"What is it Skuld?" Belldandy asked again, this time more persistently.

"Um... like... I um... had an .. accident... or something." Skuld was clearly very uncomfortable as each word came out. She continued to play with the lock of hair she had gripped, pulling it in front of her, with her hand resting in her lap. The young goddesses feet dangled off the bed, and she looked very rigid and tense.

"An accident?" Belldandy asked, still a bit confused. She hadn't really seen her little sister act this way before. Usually Skuld was confident -- over confident in fact, hardly timid... well, except when it came to interacting with others.

"Um, yeah. Is it like this the first time for every goddess?" She asked Belldandy, returning her gaze into her blue eyes.

"Like what, Skuld? What is it?" Belldandy asked, placing her arm around the younger sister.

"Um... when your powers come?" She said, a tear dripped down her cheek.

"Oh, that's so wonderful Skuld!" Belldandy cheered, and grabbed her little sister closer, giving her a loving sisterly hug.

"Um thanks. But like you should see what I did --" Skuld started but was interrupted.

"SKULD!!!" A very angry Urd yelled from the hallway. Both Belldandy and Skuld jumped off the bed, and ran to the door. Skuld already knew what the matter was though, and hid behind her older sister. Urd had followed a strange river of water that was filling the living room, coming from the bedroom of one little black haired goddess. The elder goddess stood in front of Skuld's bedroom door, soaking wet, which she had forced wide open, it hung broken on its track. Water poured out of the room, and streamed down the hallway, spilling out the front door. In front of Urd was what appeared to be frozen whirlpool of water sucking up anything that wasn't nailed down in Skuld's room, while hot steamy rain water dripped from the ceiling, apparently coming from nowhere. A white smoky fog crawled over the floor almost a foot high.

"You should be proud, Urd." Belldandy said with a smile on her face. "Skuld has awakened her powers finally." She added. Skuld continued to cower behind the middle sister, using her as a shield.

"Really? This just got interesting." Urd changed moods from anger to playful in a matter of nanoseconds. "It took her long enough...only fourteen years." Urd said, a little mini-Urd popped in back of Skuld and knuckled her head.

"Ouch!" Skuld whimpered.

"Oh stop picking on her Urd. It was an accident. She's finally ready to begin advanced magical training." Belldandy commented.

"Yeah, you're right. You know, I remember when you first got your powers Bell. The heavens had never seen anything like it before." Urd said giggling to herself.

"Huh? What happened?" Skuld asked, popping out in to clear view now, her curiosity peaked.

"Your sister was the only goddess to ever completely wreck the Heavens. A nasty little tornado manifested itself when she got angered over --- something..I can't remember what it was now." She continued to giggle, while Belldandy blushed.

"Yes. It was horrific. It took me almost an entire week to clean everything up." Belldandy admitted.

"Wow." Skuld drew out, in amazement.

"What was it like for you Urd?" Skuld turned her attention to her oldest sister.

"Oh well, nothing nearly as dramatic, of course, I got a handle on my powers fairly quickly." Urd said quickly.

"That's not what I heard -- " Belldandy started.

"Oh shut up. --- It's really none of your business Skuld." Urd said pointed, an angered look crossed her eyes.

"We should probably get this mess cleaned up." Belldandy suggested.

"Yes, we should. Okay, Skuld...go to it." Urd commanded.

"Like how?" A clueless Skuld asked.

"Sing silly. Don't you ever pay attention to your older sisters?!" Urd chastised.

"Well, um... yeah.. but I like totally don't know what words to sing." Skuld rebutted.

Just then Belldandy started humming a beautiful melody. Her angel, Holy Bell materialized behind her and joined in chorus. Both Urd and Skuld watched as the Norn tried to repair the damage. After a few minutes of hardly making a dent she paused while Holy Bell continued singing.

"This magic is especially powerful. Urd, I'm going to need your help...Yours too Skuld." Belldandy said before resuming her melody.

Urd joined in with out skipping a beat. Her angel, World of Elegance also materialized behind her. Now four voices all sung in harmony while Skuld just stood there not sure of what to do.

"Siiinnng siiillllly." Urd commanded while still in song.

Noticing that her two older sisters had outstretched their arms, she did the same, although a bit more timidly. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, allowing her body to relax. Opening her mouth, she started very quietly, fully self conscience that Urd would probably make fun of her singing later. Louder and louder her voice became. Her black hair blew around in back of her as if in a gentle wind, and the air smelled of fresh lavender, mixing with the sweet melody of her childish voice filling the room.

First Belldandy stopped singing, then Urd stopped, as they saw Skuld's own singing was doing the most repair. Belldandy's eyes had tears welling up inside them, as she heard her little sister's first song of power. She clasped her hands in front of her chest, with a gentle smile on her face. Urd simply smiled, not wanting to get all mushy like her younger sister was. Somebody had to stay strong after all.

Finally, the waterworks had stopped, Skuld's room was still wet. Soaking wet clothes lay on the floor and electronic gizmo's sparked from being shorted out. Skuld opened her eyes to see the devastation in front of her.

"Oh no!" She gasped in horror. "My room!" she ran inside it and slipped on a puddle of water, sliding on her butt right into her closet.

"Ow." The little goddess moaned.

"Let me help you clean this mess up. At least I can put these clothes in the washer for you." Belldandy suggested and began picking up sopping wet skirts and shirts. A lone red elegant dress hung on a hanger over Skuld, which then fell off its hanger, right on top of her.

"That just figures." Skuld said frustrated.

"Hey, look at the bright side Skuld." Urd said, her voice uplifting, and optimistic.

"What's that." She answered flatly.

"Now you can throw out all this junk and keep your room more organized and clean!" Urd said, with a half mocking tone of her younger sister Belldandy, holding her interlocked fingers closely to her chest.

"Oh, shut up." Skuld replied just as flatly as before.

Belldandy returned to the room and scooped up the last few remaining clothes from the floor, dumping them into a basket.

"Don't you think you should let her pick up her own underwear?" Urd commented.

"Oh, it's okay Urd. Besides. Skuld's fast asleep already." The middle Norn pointed over to Skuld who did in fact just fall asleep sitting in the closet, the red dress that once covered her had fallen to the floor.

"Poor kid, must have wiped herself out." Urd said plainly.

"Yes, usually the first outburst like that does drain a goddess. She'll need her rest." Belldandy said, scooping the red dress up and putting it in the basket, covering the various undergarments. "Will you put her in her bed?" She asked Urd as she lifted up the basket and walked out of the room.

"Sure." Urd lifted her finger and Skuld levitated over to the bed, once there, Urd dropped her finger, and Skuld came crashing down on to the mattress. "Sleep tight kiddo." She whispered before shutting the broken door.

Belldandy dumped the clothes in the washer machine and set the cycle on before returning to the kitchen. Urd had also returned to what she was previously doing -- watching her soap operas.

"Urd, do you think you can help teach Skuld the basics of levitation tomorrow?" Belldandy said as she grabbed some celery and carrots out of the pantry.

"Yeah sure. It could be interesting." She answered back, her eyes not leaving the television screen.

"I'm going to make her some of her favorite ice cream. She could probably use the energy boost when she wakes up." Belldandy said cheerfully.

"Oh yay... just what we need. A hyper Skuld." Urd said jokingly.

"Oh stop it, Urd." Belldandy chastised her older sister.

"Okay. You know I'm only teasing." Urd said.

"I know." Belldandy said. "Keiichi should be coming home any moment. He said he was bringing Megumi with him."

"Well at least there won't be a fight at the dinner table tonight." Urd commented dully.

Just then the front door opened. A nervous Keiichi followed by a curious Megumi entered.

"Where'd all that water come from?" Keiichi asked, fearing the worst.

"Oh, Skuld had a little _accident_." Urd commented, and then giggled like a little girl at imagining the little Norn's face as it first occurred.

"O---kay." Keiichi replied slowly, still unsure what that meant. "Is she okay?" he asked.

"Yeah, she's fine." Urd replied after her giggling ceased.

"What happened?" Megumi asked.

"Oh, the usual. Skuld got a hold of something she lost control of." Urd quickly summarized.

"Oh...okay." Megumi was satisfied by the elder goddess' answer.

Belldandy meanwhile set the table for the four of them. Megumi noticed immediately.

"Is Skuld not eating tonight?" she asked.

"No. She's... resting." Belldandy answered, with a bit of a hesitance.

"Okay. Can I help you?" She offered.

"Actually, yes!" Belldandy smiled. "Can you run to the store and grab these ingredients?" The brown haired woman handed a note with some money to Keiichi's sister.

"Cream, sugar, vanilla, chocolate chips..." She began to read the list. "Sounds like a yummy dessert?" She asked looking into Belldandy's blue eyes.

"Yes!" She cheerfully answered.

"Okay, I'll see ya shortly!" She said running out the door. Once the goddesses heard Megumi's motorcycle speed off, Belldandy broke the news.

"Skuld had her first magical outburst today!" Belldandy almost squeaked like a little girl herself, a wide smile was on her face. Keiichi could tell that she was genuinely proud.

"Oh... that's good." Keiichi responded. "What's a _magical outburst_?"

"It's like this Keiichi." Urd finally got up off the couch and stood there in front of the young man. "It's like when Earth girls start going through puberty. Not only does she have the uncomfortable monthly cramping and other bodily changes, like normal girls have, but she also will have uncontrolled _outbursts_ of magical power." Urd explained.

"Oh...uh... yeah." Keiichi answered with an uncomfortable tone, he really didn't want to hear all of that.

"She is a girl after all." Belldandy added. "She's finally growing up." She said tilting her head to the left ever so slightly.

"So.... it started... today?" Keiichi asked, still uncomfortable with all the _girl_ talk.

"Yes." Belldandy answered simply.

"Okay." Keiichi declared. "I'll be back in twenty minutes." He said, rushing out the door.

"Where's he off to?" Urd asked, her curiosity peaked.

"Tell him to hurry back. Dinner will be ready soon." Belldandy said, returning to the kitchen.

"Alright, Bell." Urd replied, and lifted off the ground, floating out the door. Unfortunately, he had already sped off.

"Let's see just what he's up to." Urd said grinning. "This could be interesting."

About fifteen minutes later, Megumi returned. As she entered the door with a brown paper bag in her arms, she noticed how quiet it was. The only sound was coming from the kitchen, a light sizzling sound and the quiet humming of Belldandy filled the room.

"Where did everybody go?" She asked.

"Oh, Keiichi ran out the door for something, and Urd went to go tell him to hurry. I guess she went with him." Belldandy answered.

"Why would he do that?" Megumi asked herself, pondering the question. Just then Keiichi's motorcycle stopped out front, and moments later Keiichi entered the living room with a small white bag in hand.

"What's that K?" Megumi asked, staring at the small bag.

"Oh, um.. it's something for Skuld. The pharmacist was very helpful." Keiichi answered with a nervous twitch in his voice.

"The pharmacist?" Megumi's voice inclined at the last syllables.

"Yeah. He said this stuff will help with the cramping... and ...other things." Keiichi answered a bit squeamish.

Megumi quickly put two and two together and figured out what her big brother had done and why. "You're such a sweetheart K."

"Thanks Megs. Is it okay if I put this in Skuld's room?" He asked.

"Yes, you won't disturb her. She's out cold Keiichi." Urd quickly answered. Keiichi walked back to Skuld's room, and saw the door had been broken off of it's track. He manhandled it back on the track, and to his surprise, Skuld was still very asleep. He put the bag on a table next to her bed, and quickly scribbled a note:

_Skuld, _

_These should help make your tummy feel better. _

_--K1_

He then pulled a sheet up over her clothed, damp body, and left the room, sliding the door shut.

"Dinner is ready!" Belldandy announced.

Urd, Keiichi, and Megumi all joined Belldandy at the dinner table.

"Wow, what's the occasion Bell?" Megumi asked bluntly.

"We wanted to thank you for tomorrow. It's not often that you two siblings spend much time together now a days." Belldandy said plainly.

The table was filled with rice cakes, pickled veggies, even some of the nicer sushi, complete with Saki in little cups.

"MMMM Saki. Thanks Sis." Urd applauded the beverage choice.

Dinner went on with out much incident. No food fights tonight, and no shouting of obscenities across the table. Yes, tonight was one of a few peaceful nights. After dinner, Keiichi gave Belldandy a hug...at the suggestion of his little sister, and the two siblings left.

"I hope he has fun tomorrow." Belldandy said with a hint of worry.

"Oh, he'll be fine. Besides, it's the amusement park. He'll have a blast there. And Megumi will look after him."

"You're right Urd. I'm just going to pack up this ice cream for Skuld and then I think it's time for bed." Belldandy said, quickly changing the subject off of her love.

"That sounds like a good idea, sis." Urd replied.


	4. Chapter 3: Child's Play

**Disclaimer:**

* * *

_Ah! My Goddess_ and all of its associated characters, plot devices, and fictional settings are owned and maintained by its creator, Kosuki Fujishima ( © 1988 – 2010 ). Any other characters specifically created for this fictional work are fictitious. Any similarity to any persons, living or dead is purely coincidental.

Chapter Thee: Child's Play

Tariki Hongan Temple, August 6, 5:35 am, Tokyo Time.

The sun hadn't yet come up yet, and already Skuld was dressed, wearing a simple pair of shorts and a tank top. She stood over a pile of small rocks with her feet apart by about a foot. Her arms were outstretched as she whispered _suggestions_ to the rocks, _asking_ them to levitate. So far, without surprise, it wasn't working.

"Come on..... please levitate!" She was begging on her knees at this point, when the first rays of golden sunshine peaked over the hills around the temple.

Hearing some commotion out side, Urd awoke and hovered out her window to see Skuld down below doing ... something.

"What's she up to?" She pondered. She stayed out of sight and quiet, until she realized what her younger sister was doing. An idea flashed over her head, as a sly grin formed on her face. Carefully watching Skuld's movements, she waited until her younger sister raised her arms up. She followed suit, and the one of the rocks levitated right in front of Skuld. The young Norn smiled, overjoyed as she got the first rock to levitate. While keeping that one in mid air, she tried a second one. Urd promptly responded by levitating not only one, but three other rocks to her right.

"Wow! This is too cool!" Skuld squeaked, amazed that she was doing all of this by herself. "I guess I just needed some practice." She reasoned with herself.

Now with four rocks all levitating in front of her, she focused on the remaining larger rock on her left. With her right hand and fingers stretched out as far as they'd go, she took her left hand and made a cup with her hand, almost as if she were going to lift the rock. Urd responded and very slowly made the large rock ascend.

"I did it!" Skuld cheered, doing mini jumps on the ground.

"No you didn't. It takes a lot more concentration than your tiny brain can handle." Urd corrected, finally making her presence known from above.

"What?!" Skuld looked upwards and glared at her older sister, who by now was being bathed in golden sunshine.

"You heard me. You can't possibly have control over that many objects _and_ dance around at the same time." Urd lectured.

"But I'm doing it!" Her arms were starting to get tired, and began dipping slightly.

"Oh... you are? Fine. I'll prove it." Urd said dryly. She let her arms fall to her sides and all of the rocks around Skuld came crashing down to the ground. A few of the smaller rocks pounded Skuld on her head before she could raise her arms up in a protective posture. By the time the largest of the rocks had hit the Earth, Skuld was crouched down on the ground, her knees tucked into her chest, and arms over her head as she cowered there. Tears ran down her cheeks, proving that Urd was indeed right, she had not done this by herself.

"Oh get up, you whiny butt." Urd teased. "I'll show you how it's done correctly. Your form was totally off." She lectured.

"Get away from me!" Skuld yelled as she continued to cry, and ran past Urd who was standing in front of her now. She ran into the temple and slammed the door shut behind her. The youngest Norn ran straight to her room and slammed her broken door against the frame, pretty much lodging it in place. Curled up on her bed, she hid under her covers, and sobbed.

"Stupid little girl. Don't get upset, just try again." Urd said with a depressing tone, knowing that Skuld wouldn't hear her. With that Urd walked inside the temple, and switched on the television, flipping through the many channels, noting the only thing on was the morning news.

About an hour later...

Belldandy woke up and immediately started with the remaining laundry from yesterday. The washing machine had done its job, now, all of Skuld's clothing had to dry in the hot summer sun. She sung a quiet melody while she placed each item on the line, making sure there was enough distance between items to ensure the wind would get every wrinkle. After she was finished, she brought the empty basket back inside and set it back in the laundry room, then she set forth on the next job of the day: Breakfast.

"Morning Bell." Urd made half an attempt to sound as full of life as her younger sister, but fell flat, clearly bored with the morning's television schedule.

"Good morning Urd!" Belldandy cheerfully called back as she chopped some onions. I guess Skuld hasn't woken up yet? She didn't eat the ice cream that was left in the freezer for her." Belldandy commented with just a hint of concern.

"Nah, I guess not." Urd lied.

With the onions simmering, she stepped away from the stove and gently walked towards the youngest goddess' room. Cautiously knocking, she waited. After a few moments of not hearing her sister answer, she walked back to the kitchen.

"Yesterday really must have drained her. She's still asleep." Belldandy casually mentioned.

Urd was too busy flipping through channels to really care. Belldandy set out two places for breakfast and finished up the omelette's she was preparing.

"Breakfast is ready, Urd." Belldandy called out. The elder goddess switched off the television, and quietly walked over to the table. Breakfast was relatively quiet with little conversation.

"Keiichi should be coming back today, right? Urd asked -- anything to break the silence of chewing.

"No. Megumi mentioned that she was going to keep him over tonight as well. She mentioned it yesterday at the last minute that the festival at the park was lasting all weekend." Belldandy answered.

"Oh, okay. So tonight is going to be another quiet night." Urd sounded deflated. She clearly missed the bickering arguments with her little sister.

Belldandy giggled slightly. "Speaking of Skuld, I'll go make sure she's okay." She got up and walked towards Skuld's room. She knocked a couple of times. This time when she got no response, she pulled at the door, but was unable to budge it.

"Urd? Can you help me with the door?" Belldandy called out.

"Is that wise?" Urd called loudly back from the living room.

"What if she can't get out?" Belldandy called back down the hall.

"She can climb out her window, can't she?" Urd called back.

"That's not acceptable. Please help me." Belldandy almost begged.

"Fine." Urd was slightly frustrated now. She walked up to the door and gave it a swift waist high kick, busting it off the tracks, and into the room. Skuld shot up out of her bed, like a cat that had just been electrocuted.

"Oh sorry, Skuld. Belldandy was worried about you." She paused. "I hope you don't mind. I'm sure Keiichi will fix your door tomorrow when he returns." Urd said flatly.

"Whatever. Just leave me alone." Skuld shot back.

"Fine. As you wish." Urd threw back walking away, and heading towards the living room.

"Skuld? Are you okay?" Belldandy cautiously asked tip toeing inside the young goddess' room.

"Yeah. I'm fine." Skuld answered flatly. "Hey, what's this?" Skuld asked, abruptly changing the subject as she picked up the white paper bag on her nightstand.

"Oh." Belldandy giggled. "Keiichi brought that last night for you." Belldandy answered with a smile on her face.

"My _tummy_? What does he think is wrong with my stomach?" Skuld looked up at Belldandy with eyes full of curiosity.

Belldandy took a breath and sat down on her little sister's bed, putting her hand on Skuld's knee. "He is thinking like you're a regular teenage girl going through her first monthly cycle."

"Wha--?" Skuld blinked in shock.

"He's trying to ... comfort you. You know he thinks of you as his sister too -- " She paused while looking into Skuld's eyes. "After these few years of living together, it's only natural." Belldandy added.

"Yeah -- I guess so." Skuld answered quietly, and smiled very slightly. For as much crap as she torments Keiichi through, he still ... _loves_ her too.

"Are you hungry?" Belldandy asked.

"Yes!!" She answered, hearing her stomach grumble as if almost on queue.

"I've got some ice cream I made for you from scratch -- your favorite." Belldandy smiled.

"Yum!" Skuld hopped out of her bed, and almost ran to the refrigerator. Belldandy smiled as she followed the teenager to the kitchen.

"Big Sis... you're totally awesome! Thank you!" Skuld squealed at seeing the home made tasty treat, and sat down at the table gorging herself, scooping clumps of cold, frozen cream into her mouth as fast as her arm would move.

"Be careful not to get brain freeze." Belldandy cautioned.

"mm hmmm mm mm hmmmm" Skuld answered in between mouthfuls.

At about eleven o'clock in the morning a dented up black spray painted full sized cargo van drove up to the bar and parked in the lot. Three guys walked into the bar and settled on one of the few empty tables. The bartender walked up to the three men and stared down at them.

"What will it be today?" he asked.

"A round of beers, and an extra. ... " Jeff paused. "We're waiting for someone."

"Ah, the blond from yesterday? She seems to hold her spirits well." He responded.

"Yeah, if you say so." Jeff answered back. Just as the bartender was about to walk away, Andy stopped him.

"Say, what's up with all the commotion?

"It's free beer Saturday. Buy a plate of wings, and get a pitcher free." The bartender answered. "Shall I get you all a plate?" He suggested.

"Sure, why not?" Terry answered.

After a few minutes the bartender came back with a large plate piled high with hot wings, and four mugs of beer.

Jeff raised his mug high for a toast, Andy and Terry followed suit. "To a quick and safe monetary gain." Jeff said, clanking his mug with his buddies. Both Terry and Andy replied with "Aye."

Halfway through devouring the plate of wings Mara finally strolled into the bar, looking from left to right she saw the bar was packed, unlike yesterday. Finally spotting Terry, she walked up to the table and sat down at the available seat.

"What's up with all the people here today?" She asked.

"Oh, I guess you get free beer if you order some wings. Here have some." Terry offered as his mouth dripped with hot sauce.

"Fine. I never pass up a free bite." Mara grinned slightly as she picked up a chicken wing.

"I've actually had better wings at Hooters." Andy mentioned. "But you can't beat free beer." he later tacked on after swallowing his mouthful.

"_Hooters_?" Mara asked.

"Oh, it's just this joint in America." Andy answered.

"It's really a nation wide chain you dumb-ass." Terry corrected.

"Dude. Whatever! All I know is, it's got damn good wings!" Andy threw back.

"So, you're going to visit the goddesses tonight?" Mara asked, deflating the hostility in the air.

"Yeah. Your little woman problem will start to go away...probably tomorrow morning. By then, little....._Skuld_ (he drew out her name for emphasis) will be long gone and far away. Jeff elaborated a bit of his grand plan.

"Very good. Oh, that geek has one hell of a security system in place. How are you going to get past it? Some damned robot she built." Mara inquired.

"Oh, we've got our ways around those pesky systems. Not to worry. We'll handle it." Terry said grinning as he dropped a chicken bone onto the plate.

"Good. After you take her, I want you to make sure she swallows _this_." Mara said dangerously, holding out a black vial.

"Sure toots, whatever." Andy said casually.

"Make.. sure...she...swallows...it." Mara repeated herself slowly and dangerously, making it very clear how important it was.

"Yeah sure. No problem." Andy said between bites.

"Good." Mara answered with a grin.

"What of our money." Jeff asked pointedly.

"Here." Mara said handing the brown paper bag across the table. Jeff peered inside it after wiping his fingers off of the hot sauce and grinned widely.

"Excellent. Half now, half upon delivery." Jeff reminded Mara.

"Yes, yes." She paused, taking a chicken wing. "How will I know when your _job_ is completed?" She inquired.

"You'll know." Jeff said with a vagueness in his voice.

"We'll call you and tell you were to send the remainder of our money." Terry interrupted.

"Good. I can't wait to finally be rid of those damned goddesses." Mara sighed with a bit of relief, knowing of the hell that will be coming to one Keiichi Morisato very soon. She smiled at the thought of his suffering once more, and smiled even greater at the turmoil Belldandy will be going through, if Hild's plan is to work.

"What are you going to do with the kid....if I can ask?" Mara inquired.

"Oh, nothing too bad. We'll take her for a little ride, and then probably kill her in the middle of nowhere. -- Just to be sure she doesn't come back." Jeff explained.

"NO!--" Mara outburst. "You can't kill her." She added on.

"Why the hell not?" Jeff inquired.

Mara's eyes shifted from right to left and leaned into the table, lowering her voice to just above a soft whisper. "Because.... If you kill her, then another demon _will_ die too....." she paused. "And I really don't want to be the one that dies." Mara clarified.

"What do you mean...how in the world ---?" Andy asked, intrigued.

"It's called the Doublet System. It's designed to ensure balance between good and evil within the universe. The Almighty (she slurred at the name), built it eons ago to stop us demons from mercilessly killing his beloved gods and goddesses." Mara further explained.

"Oh, alright...whatever then." Andy answered. "We won't kill her then...." He glanced up and looked straight into her blue eyes. "... But ... we _can_ have some fun with her...._right_?" He drew out the last words for emphasis.

"I really don't care what you do to her...just don't kill her." Mara said. "What do you have in mind?" She asked after a pause.

"Oh nothing too horrible." Andy answered cryptically.

"He just likes to play these twisted games on his assignments he can't outright murder. -- Likes to screw with their heads .... Makes them go insane." Terry clarified.

"Oh, okay, sure, whatever turns you on, I guess." Mara answered, and then downed the beer in front of her.

"Well, I really must be going now." Mara said as she stood up. _I'll be damned if I'm going to get stuck with the damn bill again!_, she thought to herself. "Remember, make sure she drinks that. Shove it down her throat if you need to. It's _very_ important that she's gets it." Mara reminded the boys.

"It's not a problem." Jeff said, also standing up. Terry and Andy followed suit.

"I'll wait for your phone call then. -- " Mara said. "Wait...you don't have my number?" She remembered she never gave it to them.

"Don't worry about it. We have our ways." Jeff said shoving Andy into another customer, who dumped their beer all over their shirt and pants.

"Hey!! Watch where you're walking asshole!" The customer yelled dangerously.

At that, the typical bar fight scene had started. Once well underway, the three men slipped out of the bar and drove off in their van. Mara, luckily just teleported herself back to her lair in all the commotion. Once back in private, she first grinned, and then laughed loudly, her voice echoed through out the lair.


	5. Chapter 4: Flight Plan

**Disclaimer:**

* * *

_Ah! My Goddess_ and all of its associated characters, plot devices, and fictional settings are owned and maintained by its creator, Kosuki Fujishima ( © 1988 – 2010 ). Any other characters specifically created for this fictional work are fictitious. Any similarity to any persons, living or dead is purely coincidental.

Chapter Four: Flight Plan.

Near the Tariki Hongan temple, August 6, 4:00 pm, Tokyo Time

The black van deliberately passed the temple, Andy spotted the robot standing guard out in front of the entrance

"That's the place. Park over past the next bend. We'll wait until nightfall and then nab her." Jeff directed. The van rounded the curve and pulled over behind some trees, allowing an almost perfect view of the rear of the temple with a pair of binoculars.

"You take the first watch Andy. Us two should get some shut-eye. It's gonna be a long night. Jeff directed. He glanced over to Terry and noticed he was staring at the picture of the raven haired goddess.

"We'll wait until everybody goes to sleep. It only looks like the three girls are there. I haven't seen the dude yet." Andy reported.

"Good. It'll be super easy to sneak in." Terry commented, putting the photograph in his shirt pocket, taking extra time to secure the button on it. Jeff laid his head back and grinned slightly.

"What?" Terry asked with a pointed tone.

"Oh, nothing. You and those pictures. How many do you have now?" Jeff asked casually.

"You should know the answer to that." Terry replied without giving a thought about it. "One for every job we've done." He answered with proud honesty.

"Yup. Why do you keep them, anyway?" Jeff asked innocently.

"It's a reminder to me. That for each one of these people we've done, we've helped somebody else." Terry explained.

"Sure." Jeff chuckled in response, not believing Terry's answer.

"Oh whatever. I'm gettin' some sleep." Terry reclined his seat as far back as it would go, which was only a couple of inches before it hit the separator between the cargo space and the passenger area.

Meanwhile in the back, Andy was busy assembling a small engine looking device.

Skuld walked into the living room only dressed with a towel wrapped around her body, and another bundled up in her hair after soaking in the bathtub for what seemed hours. She sat down on the couch, snatched the remote control up and changed the channel to the Science Channel.

"Hey! I was watching that!" Urd yelled, and tried to grab for the remote.

"You've been watching that stupid television all day. It's my turn!" Skuld yelled back keeping the remote in her other hand, extended far away from Urd.

"Skuld! You little brat! I don't want to watch this boring crap! Besides, you need to go get dressed!" Urd commanded.

"I can't. All my clothes are still out drying. _Remember?_" Skuld drug out the last word, putting especial emphasis on it.

"That's not my problem. Go hide in your room then. Nobody wants to see your pathetic little kid body anyway." Urd frustratingly said, as she continued to grab for the remote.

"I.... do not have a little kid body! ... and... it's not like there are any guys here anyway!" Skuld shot back.

"Yeah... you do. You see these?" Urd pointed at her own chest. "They are called boobs....something you don't have yet." Urd remarked, rolling her eyes at her sister.

"Whatever. I do to have 'em!" Skuld stood up and faced Urd.

"Skuld. Urd. Please stop!" Belldandy pleaded. "Skuld is correct Urd." She added.

"Huh?" Urd asked, confused, but not surprised that her younger sister defended Skuld.

"You have been watching T.V. all day. It is Skuld's turn." She pointed out.

"But--" Urd defended, but her voice lost it's power. She had nothing to combat with. Skuld merely stuck her tongue out at Urd. Still untrusting of her elder sister, she carefully placed placed the remote control behind her back on the seat.

"Your clothes should be ready to put away in about an hour or two. Dinner will be ready by then, Skuld." Belldandy said with a gentle smile on her face.

"Thank goodness." The youngest Norn blushed a bit. Urd got up from the couch and stormed off to her room, clearly loosing this battle. She smiled as she stared at her wall of various potions after shutting her bedroom door.

"Hmmmmmm." She pondered, with a finger on her chin.

Seven o'clock, pm.

Dinner was relatively quiet, despite Skuld and Urd fighting over the last remaining rice balls Belldandy made. A tasty combination of beef and pork wrapped inside of a caramelized onion and then layered in sticky rice. Tender and sweet, yet savory at the same time. Skuld had dropped the towel around her head, letting her damp, freshly combed hair drape her body. Although, she did still have the towel around her body. She fidgeted the whole time while eating.

"That's a good look for you Skuld. You should do it more often." Urd teased, distracting her younger sister while she grabbed yet another rice ball.

"What?!" Skuld glanced up, anger filling her eyes.

"Oh, you know, the whole undone, messy hair look." Urd replied simply.

"I just haven't put a bow or anything in it _yet_." Skuld glared at her older sister.

"Stop teasing her so much Urd." Belldandy calmly asked her older sister, a hint of warning in her eyes.

"You're absolutely no fun." Urd said, as she finished the last rice ball. "Oh, Skuld.... When you have a moment, I have something for you." She said innocently and lightly.

"What, a knuckle rub?" Skuld answered in a flat voice.

"No, not at all. But you'll see." Urd said as she got up from the table and walked to her room. She stuck her head out the door and added, "But after your _chores_ are done." She closed the door behind her. Skuld looked up at Belldandy with curious eyes. Belldandy only shook her head slightly, not having a clue what Urd had for her.

After Skuld had finished eating, she helped put the dishes in the sink and with her Big Sis's help, she carried her dried clothes in from outside. Since Belldandy had already done most of the hard work -- folding her clothes, she quickly put away each thing where it was supposed to go, and then changed into a set of light pink pajamas with ice cream cones sprinkled though out the button up shirt and elastic bottoms. She combed her hair once more before heading over to Urd's bedroom. Cautiously, she knocked on Urd's door.

"Is that you Skuld?" Urd called out from inside.

"Yeah." She answered simply.

"Come on in." Urd replied.

Skuld slid open her older sisters door and stepped inside. "Shut the door, will you?" Urd asked. Skuld did, and then glanced around Urd's room for anything that might look like a booby trap.

"Don't be so suspicious. Skuld. I wanted to give you something, since you're finally growing up into a woman. Soon you'll have your magical abilities to command... and probably have boys falling all over for you." Urd said, winking at the last part.

"What are you talking about?" Skuld asked, untrusting her older sister. She's up to something.

"It's about time you had one of these in your wardrobe." Urd said, passing her little sister a box wrapped in decorative paper, complete with a red bow.

Skuld took the box, and eyed her sister with unease.

"Go on, open it. It's _all_ yours." Urd reassured.

Skuld fumbled around with the box, since there was no where for her to sit or set the box down to open it. She carefully took the bow off, careful not to rip it and then tore into the wrapping, revealing a plain, brown thin cardboard box. Discarding the paper onto the floor, she carefully lifted the box top off to see something made of black leather staring at her. With a puzzled look on her face, she knelt down, placing the box on the floor and lifted the leather out of the box, hanging it in the air.

"What... is ... that?" Skuld asked not sure exactly how to ask.

She held up a shiny metal hanger with a black leather top with spaghetti strings. Down on a hanger below, was a really short leather fringed skirt. Looking down into the box was a pair of fishnet stockings and a guarder belt.

"It's about time you had your very own set of lingerie Skuld." Urd answered casually.

"What?" A clueless Skuld answered back.

"Lingerie is something you wear to for a boy.... who likes you." Urd greatly oversimplified the definition and reasons to wear it. Skuld blushed slightly at the thought of a boy actually liking her, let alone having her wear something special just for him.

"Uh...well...um... like thank you....Urd." Skuld gratefully accepted this peace offering. She lowered the outfit back into the box and loosely put the lid back on it, then quickly scooping up the package she turned around and started back for her room.

"Don't mention it." Urd said casually. She grinned as soon as Skuld turned the corner and was out of sight.

Back in her own room, Skuld reopened the box and examined the new outfit closer She removed her pajamas, setting them on her bed and tried on the leather. _I really should make sure it fits._ she reasoned with herself. After about five minutes of struggling to figure out how to put it on correctly, she stood in front of her full length body mirror and examined herself. She stood there, black leather top that only covered her chest. About an inch below her bust line was some light leather fringe that delicately touched her skin, almost with a ticklish sensation. Her waist and navel were completely exposed. The skirt that came with it didn't cover all that much either. It's frayed leather strappings only came down to almost half way between her hips and knees, and easily separated to show even yet more of her thighs. The fish net stockings covered her legs adequately enough, and attached by little buckles under her skirt to the guarder belt that fit snuggly on her hips. Finally, there was a see though _robe_ looking thing that she could wear over her shoulders, covering her torso, and stopping just below the ends of the fringe on her skirt. There was nothing to secure this robe-thing, it merely hung open.

Right about then Urd came up to Skuld's doorway, and burst out laughing. Skuld turned a fierce red as she whipped around to confront her giggling sister. Belldandy came down the hallway to see what all the commotion was, and smiled. "Wow Skuld, you look so adorable in that!" Her older sister cheerfully observed. This made Skuld blush even more. After Urd had calmed down a bit from her fit of laughter she finally was able to comment. "Now all you need is a boy that'll like you!" She burst out laughing again. Skuld walked up to her eldest sister and slapped her with her open palm.

"I guess I deserved that...But seriously Skuld. Most guys don't go for the _nerdy girls_. Really, you aren't all that attractive either -- quite plain in fact." Urd continued to let the harsh words flow out of her mouth.

"Urd, you're not being very --" Belldandy started, but was cut off my Skuld. "Leave me alone! Both of you!", and she ran out past both her sisters and out the front door, taking refuge in the bushes waiting for the setting sun to fade to darkness.

"You need to apologize to her." Belldandy demanded flatly, her voice was filled with disappointment.

"I will after she's calmed down a bit. You know I'm only teasing her. -- I worry about her, she's growing up now, and she has new dangers she hasn't faced yet-- dangers that she's not really prepared for." Urd finally confessed her true thoughts for her little sister.

"I know." Belldandy answered shortly and went down the hallway towards the front door, peering outside to make sure Skuld was okay.

"You won't find her so easily. She's been hiding in the bushes recently." Urd said loud enough to for Belldandy to hear, while she still stood in front of Skuld's room. She sighed and went back into her own bedroom.

Belldandy stood by the door for another few minutes before going to her own bedroom. She sat on her bed anxiously waiting to hear Skuld come back inside. It was going to be dark very soon. Finally after the crickets were chirping happily and the stars lit up the night sky, Skuld crept back inside and went to her bedroom. She stripped off the lingerie and put it back in the box. Then she took the cardboard box and put it in her closet on the shelf, right above her red dress, the one red dress she would wear on her first date with her first boyfriend. Slowly she closed her closet door, put her pajamas back on and crawled into her bed, switching off her light on her nightstand she pulled the covers over her head. Quietly tears ran out of her eyes and down the sides of her cheeks before finally falling asleep.

Eleven-thirty PM...

After the last light went out in the temple about an hour ago, Jeff tapped on Andy and then Terry's shoulder to wake them.

"Show time boys." He quietly whispered. Terry sat up and switched on the little generator engine he had built earlier in the day. A digital bar meter measured the power generated, and Terry read it off as it increased.

"Seventeen percent. Twenty-nine. Thirty-five. Fifty. Sixty-seven percent. Eighty..." As the engine climbed higher on the scale, so did it's noise. Only starting out as a quiet hum, now it was beginning to emit a high-pitched tone. "Ninety-five...ninety-six...ninety-seven...ninety-eight....ninety-nine.... One hundred percent!" Terry announced.

"Punch it." Jeff directed, and Terry pushed a red button on the top of the device. A brilliant white light expanded from the van, moving at half the speed of sound for about three miles, knocking out everything and anything digital in nature.

"Okay, let's move." Jeff said as he opened his door. Andy and Terry followed, each of them leaving the doors open. The three of them lowered the night-vision goggles they had strapped on their foreheads and turned them on. Quietly tip toeing the short distance from the van to the temple, they entered through the front door, which hadn't been locked. The robot out front simply sat there, staring forwards, unnoticed the intruders. One by one, the three men glanced into each room of the temple, until finding the one with their target sleeping in it. Andy took out a small black towel and a small bottle with some chemical in it, and dumped the contents on the cloth, soaking it. Then ever so slowly, he entered the little goddess's room and held the cloth to her face for a good minute, blocking her nose and mouth. He removed the cloth and picked up her arm and let it fall to the bed. It loosely obeyed, bouncing on the mattress slightly. The sleeping girl didn't make a move. Then Terry pulled back the covers and grabbed her under her arms, Andy meanwhile grabbed her feet and they carried her outside. Jeff took the extra moment to straighten out her bed, and made it look as if it hadn't been slept in. Then he too followed his friends outside back to the van. Once at the van, he started the engine up and the three men took their prisoner for a ride to a small county airport, a small single engine Cessna plane awaited them.

"Ah! Mister Winters. I was wondering when your crew would finally show. The plane has been prepped and is ready for your immediate departure. Is your flight plan still unchanged from this afternoon?" A dark haired Japanese man inquired with broken English.

"No changes." Jeff answered simply. The three men got out of the van and began loading up various cargo items into the small cockpit of the plane, leaving Skuld behind and out of site for the moment.

"Ah, very well then. I will notify the tower you shall be lifting off shortly." The man turned and hopped in his golf cart, heading towards the tower nearly half a mile a way.

"Okay, let's move her in. If anybody asks, she's a heavy sleeper." Jeff directed. He got in the plane and began going down the preflight check list while Andy and Terry carefully moved the small girl out of the van and into the plane. The two men put the girl into a seat and strapped her in tight. Terry sat down next to her and strapped himself in, while Andy waited outside near the van for the small Japanese man to return. About ten minutes later, he returned on his cart.

"Everything is good to go." He said giving a thumbs up and a weak smile.

"Good. Can you park this thing over in the hanger. We'll be back probably next week to get it." Andy explained.

"No problem sir." The short man got out of his cart and hopped into the empty cargo van and drove towards the hanger. Meanwhile, Andy got in th plane and shut the door. When it was secured, Jeff started the small propeller engine.

"Tower, this is Alpha-Six-Niner-Quebec-Tango-Five, requesting permission for take off". He spoke confidently and clearly into the microphone.

"Roger Alpha-Six-Niner-Quebec-Tango-Five. Taxi to Runway three-five and hold." An official sounding voice answered him over the speaker in the plane. Jeff throttled up slightly and the plane began to move. He maneuvered the plane to the take off position at the close end of the runway and waited.

"Alpha-Six-Niner-Quebec-Tango-Five, weather is clear, wind is South by five knots, your destination appears the same. Permission for take off is granted, happy flying gentlemen. Tower out."

"Roger Tower, thank you, and good night." Jeff replied casually into the microphone, then slowly he pushed the main throttle control forwards. The engine sprang to life, nearing six-thousand RPM. Slowly the aircraft began rolling down the runway faster and faster as it built up speed. At ninety knots the little green light illuminated on the air-speed indicator and Jeff pulled back on the yoke, the aircraft gently lifted off the ground and ascended. Once about three hundred feet off the ground, he changed course slightly going slightly to the East, but mostly heading North.

"Alright boys, we'll be in the air for about five hours. Our passenger should wake up within that time. Don't forget to give her that _stuff_ whatsherface told us about." Jeff said turning his head back a bit.

"Right." Terry answered back as he stared at the young girl, watching her every movement.

"Andy, you got some of those needles prepared?" Terry asked in anticipation.

"Yeah, here." He said as he grabbed one out of his jacket pocket, lid still unbroken on it.

"Thanks." Terry said and rested his head on his propped up arm. It was going to be a dull five hours.


	6. Chapter 5: Cruising Altitude

**Disclaimer:**

* * *

_Ah! My Goddess_ and all of its associated characters, plot devices, and fictional settings are owned and maintained by its creator, Kosuki Fujishima ( © 1988 – 2010 ). Any other characters specifically created for this fictional work are fictitious. Any similarity to any persons, living or dead is purely coincidental.

Chapter Five: Cruising Altitude

Somewhere above Japan, August 7, two in the morning, Tokyo time.

The plane bounced around in the air, hitting various air pockets as it cruised through the night sky. Skuld's head hit the side of the plane as the plane bounced into one of the larger air pockets. Still in a half sleep, she tried to reach up to rub her head, but found that she couldn't move her arms. Slowly opening her eyes, she found that her wrists had been tied together. She also noticed that her ankles were tied together. A longer rope connected her wrists to her ankles by running between her legs, and the seatbelt held her body tightly against her seat. She looked to her right to see a man probably in his twenties, his hair was brown and held in a pony tail, and he appeared as though he hadn't shaved in a week. He was a sleep, snoring quietly to himself. She looked around the tiny plane and saw to other men, also in their twenties, slightly older though. One in front of her had short, neatly kept black hair, while the man to his right had longer blond hair that dangled loosely.

"Doko made hanashi mashi ta ka?", Skuld asked in her native Japanese tongue where she was. The man with blond turned around and stared back at her for a moment and then grabbed a soda can and threw it at the man next to her, waking him up abruptly.

"Anata dare ka?", Skuld asked another question glancing back and forth between the two men. Who were these guys?

"What?" Terry asked looking right at the young girl.

"Doko ni, dare ga anata-tachi de ari, anata wa watashi to issho ni yaro u to shite iru watashi o desu ka?" Skuld, now shaken up a bit, and scared, barraged the guy next to her with two previous questions and another. Where was she, who are you guys, and what are you going to do with me, were the things she most present on her mind.

"Oh!" Terry laughed before answering her, but in English. "You are on a plane, we are taking you away, and we... we're your worst nightmare." He summarized her situation, exaggerating it slightly as he gently pet her black hair like a puppy dog. Skuld just sighed in defeat. She couldn't understand anything he was saying. The only thing she did know was that she was in trouble. Then without warning, he clamped her nose shut. She struggled in her seat and as she gasped for air, Terry popped the lid off the vial and poured the dark liquid down her throat, shoving her chin closed, she had no choice but to swallow. After he heard her gulp, he released her nose and rustled around in his pocket for the syringe. Meanwhile, a yellowish puddle leaked down her legs and dripped down off of her seat cushion.

"Oh man! She just pissed herself!" Terry cried out, whining while he quickly undoing his seat belt and hopping up, banging his head against the canopy of the cockpit, and then tumbling over the side of the arm rest of his former seat. Skuld giggled watching the man stumble and fall over into the next seat.

"Dumb bitch!" Terry said, backhanding the young girl across her cheek. "Now it's gonna stink in here, and we can't land for another two hours!" He whined some more, before grinning. "At least I don't have to wear pee soaked pants though."

"itai!" Skuld screamed in pain, only able to turn her quickly reddening cheek away, wondering why he hurt her. "Anata wa watashi o oso~tsu ta riyū!?"

"Because you pissed yourself, stupid girl." Terry said throwing an angered, mean face her way.

"Watashi wa anata ga watashi ni itte iru rikai shite i nai!" Skuld shouted back at the man not understanding a word he was saying to her.

"Understand? You know, I hardly understand you. Why don't you learn a real language like....oh I don't know....English?!" Terry yelled back sarcastically at Skuld raising his hand again, who quivered in her restrained seat.

"That's it, show her who's boss Terry!" Andy taunted from the front.

Terry eyed the black haired girl in front of him and instead of hitting her, he thrust his left hand forward, injecting a needle into her neck. The blue-clear liquid drained into the goddess, and a few seconds later she passed out.

"I was wondering when you'd finally beat the crap out of somebody, you wussy." Andy commented with a smile gleaming on his face.

"Well, she deserved it. … Try pissing on me... dumb girl..." Terry further mumbled to himself. Both Jeff and Andy couldn't help but chuckle at the display of aggression. Finally, he took a seat in back of the young girl and began reorganizing their gear.

"Just be sure you're done doing that before we land, got it?" Andy directed without turning his head. They would need to pull off the transfer at the next stop smoothly.

"How long is this stuff supposed to last anyway?" Terry asked both the other guys.

"The dude I got it from said it should last a good twelve hours before she'll wake up again. We'll have to re-dose her again before she wakes up." Andy commented while he pulled out a map. Taking a pencil and a ruler he began to sketch out a flight path noting when they'd either need to re-dose her sleeping agent, or when it was time for a shift change.

"We should arrive at our landing destination in the US at about six pm...or um... thats five am Chicago time." Andy corrected his timing calculations, and rubbed the back of his head.

"That would be about right. We'll hijack the first trucker we come across and then nobody will be able to find her." Jeff commented grinning. "I can already smell that other twenty-five grand!"

"Hey, you think we might be able to do the other two girls that Mara chick wanted taken care of too?" Terry asked, being optimistic once again.

"Probably not. From the sounds of it, I don't think she's got any more money." Jeff answered, making a slight correction to their course to a more westerly heading.

"Figures." Terry said glumly.

"We just entered Russian airspace." Andy commented, while reviewing a map.

"Perfect timing." Jeff said and pushed the yoke further away from him, the airplane began to descend.

"Hey, I thought we had another two hours?" Terry yelled from the back.

"Nah, I only told you five hours so you'd think there was plenty of time to repack all our stuff and wouldn't wine the whole time." Jeff explained while giving a slight chuckle.

"You're a jerk, ya know that?" Terry cried from the back, and quickly began shoving everything into a small back pack. "Alright, the duffel bag is empty." He said bringing it up from the rear.

"Good. Now comes the fun part." Andy said grinning as he unfastened his seat belt.

"What are you doing?" Terry asked, taking the seat further away from Skuld. Andy grabbed the drab green bag and opened it up, after which, he unfastened the seat belt restraining the young girl, who promptly fell over in to her own lap. Then Andy took the bag and slipped Skuld's bare feet into the bag and pulled the bag up, continuing up her legs.

"Dude, she's not gonna fit." Terry said plainly.

"Watch and learn." Andy grinned, as he folded her legs, her feet now touching her butt, he pulled the bag up straight, covering her head. Finally, he latched the clips together and placed a pad lock through it.

"Cool." Terry said, amazed.

"Alpha-Six-Niner-Quebec-Tango-Five, requesting permission for landing." Jeff spoke clearly into the microphone.

"Eh, roger Alpha-Six-Niner-Quebec-Tango-Five, permission to land on runzway one-eight." A man with a heavy Russian accent answered.

"Roger tower." Jeff answered and lined up with the runway, gracefully touching down on the runway and slowed the little plane to a slow crawl, moving the plane up to parking spot near a larger cargo plane with a FedEx logo on it.

"Alright, let's go. Our ride is waiting." Jeff said opening the door, while Andy grabbed the bag containing Skuld throwing it over his shoulder, leaving Terry to grab all the stuff. Jeff led the way to the giant cargo plane.

"We're flying in a cargo plane?" Terry asked, his voice hinted at more whining.

"Yeah, it's perfect. We won't have to go through Customs this way." Jeff explained. "Now come on, we gotta be quick."

The three men climbed aboard the plane and hid between a pile of over sized boxes.

"In about twelve hours, we'll be near home." Jeff said grinning and patting the duffel bag.

Terihongan Temple, April 7, Seven in the morning.

Belldandy woke up to hearing birds chirping happily outside her window and the sun's warm golden rays caressing her face. She sat up and walked into the living room, then the kitchen, finding both vacant. She flipped on the light in the kitchen and started getting the breakfast ingredients ready. Thinking of Skuld's feelings, she thought she'd help cheer her up after last night's fight with Urd by making her favorite thing: A creamy, cheese and vegetable filled quiche. After she got the quiche in the oven, she went outside and sat on the front porch, only listening to the birds' cheerful song.

About an hour later, Urd stumbled out of her room, holding her palm up to her forehead. Reaching the couch, she flopped down and grabbed the remote, pushing the button to turn the television on. Unfortunately today was going to be a bad day for her – nothing happened.

"What the hell did she do to it now?" Urd grumbled as she painfully got up off the couch, holding her forehead tighter still. She stumbled over to the TV and pushed the button on the front. Nothing happened. Urd dropped on all fours and crawled around the television, following the power cord to the outlet, she made sure it was plugged in, and to no surprise, it was.

"I'm gonna kill her." Urd mumbled as she got up off the floor. By this time, Belldandy had heard movements inside and had come in to see who was up. Hearing Urd's grumblings, she asked, "What's wrong?"

"Skuld deliberately broke the television, and now I'm going to punish her." Urd said with half a grin on her face.

"Calm down Urd, I'm sure she'll fix the television after she wakes up. Remember, you're supposed to apologize to her for what happened last night." Belldandy said slightly condescending.

"Right." Urd said flatly, crossing her arms.

"Breakfast will be ready very soon. Why don't you go get dressed and wash up, and I'll see about Skuld, okay?" Belldandy suggested, smiling as she usually does.

"Fine." Urd said with defeat in her voice, and walked off to the bathroom, shutting the door behind her. Meanwhile Belldandy walked gracefully down the hallway and stopped at Skuld's room. Seeing that door still remained on the floor from Urd's kick last night, she was about to knock, and then noticed that Skuld wasn't in her bed, in fact, the bed had been made already.

"Urd?" Belldandy called slightly concerned.

"What?" She responded over the sound of running water.

"Have you seen Skuld?" Belldandy asked, knowing the answer already was probably going to be a 'No.', but she had to ask anyway.

"No. Isn't she still asleep?" Urd answered, stepping out of the bathroom.

"No, she's not here." Belldandy responded, her voice now clearly showing concern.

"Maybe she went into town early?" Urd suggested. "To fix the television." She added, being selfishly optmistic.

"I'll go look to see if Benpei is still here." Belldandy said, almost rushing out the front door. Urd followed not too far behind, but only walked instead. The younger sister came to the end of the temple stairs and saw Benpei was still there, she made the obvious inquiry to the machine. "Mister Benpei, have you seen Skuld this morning?"

He didn't respond. Urd came up behind her younger sister now, and asked, "What's wrong with Benpei?"

"I don't know. He doesn't seem to be on." Belldandy answered with uncertainty. "Maybe she rode her bike." She ran to the garage, spotting the smaller twenty-four inch bicycle, she gasped, holding her hands up to her lips. She walked up to the small bike and gently caressed the mirror on the left side.

"_Mirror of reflection, _

_show me information._

_Where has Skuld gone, _

_so that I may be calm._"

The mirror changed from showing Belldandy's pretty face to a scene of complete darkness. Belldandy strained to see what the mirror had to show. There in the far background, she saw two men carrying Skuld's body between them, and then getting into a black van. A third man got in the drivers' seat and drove off to the West.

"Oh my!" Belldandy cried out, and ran back into the house.

"What? What's wrong?" Urd now showed genuine concern.

"Skuld's been taken! Three men. They went West." Belldandy spat out as she picked up the telephone and quickly dialed the numbers for Heaven.

"Wait a minute? Skuld was taken by three men … last night?" Urd asked repeating everything that Belldandy had just said.

"Yes." Belldandy answered hastily. "This is goddess first class Belldandy. I need to speak with Rind immediately!" Her voice rushed as she spoke into the phone. A moment later she began pacing back and forth.

"Calling Rind?" Urd paused. "Isn't that a bit... drastic" Urd asked slightly annoyed.

"No. A goddess has been kidnapped!" Belldandy snapped at her older sister.

"Right, I think she can handle herself. She's a clever girl." Urd tried reasoning with Belldandy.

"There were three large men that took her, and besides, she doesn't have her powers yet." Belldandy lectured back.

"What do you mean she's unavailable?! – Oh never mind. I'm coming to see her in person!" Belldandy slammed down the phone and walked over to the mirror in the bathroom, vanishing from sight.

"I guess I'll go look for her down here. She can't be too far." Urd said to herself as she ascended into the air and turned to the West, and followed the road as it snaked along the topography of the land.

One-thrity, pm...

Keiichi and Megumi came to a stop in front of the Temple, rolling their motorcycles into the garage. Keiichi was the first one in the door, and was taken by surprise not to be greeted by anybody.

"Hello? …. We're back." Keiichi called out, and walked into the living room.

"Oh god, Keiichi, what's that stench?" Megumi asked, holding her nose tightly.

"Smells like something's burning. Keiichi answered, walking over to the kitchen and saw black smoke hovering around the oven. Pulling the oven door down, a thick ploom of black smoke filled the kitchen. Both Keiichi and Megumi coughed intesnly.

"What... _was_ that?" Megumi asked waving her hand in front of her face. Keiichi grabbed a pot holder and pulled out the pie plate covered in a crispy black topping.

"I really don't know. – " Keiichi answered, and then shut off the oven and began searching the rest of the temple. He checked each room, noticing that nobody was here. Finally he came to Skuld's room, and noticed her door was laying on the floor inside her room.

"I wonder what happened here?" Keiichi asked himself out loud.

"Did they get into a fight again" Megumi asked.

"Maybe." Keiichi answered simply, shrugging his shoulders. "It's unlike Belldandy to be gone though... and to leave something burning in the oven." he paused and pondered the situation, placing his finger on his chin. "Something must have happened, and they all left quickly." Keiichi sumized.

"Let's check the news, maybe we'll see something on the television?" Megumi suggested.

"That's a good idea." Keiichi answered, and walked into the living room, stopping by the couch. He picked up the remote control and pointed it at the television pushing the device, but nothing happened.

"Are the batteries dead?" Megumi asked.

"I don't think so. Urd wouldn't have that." Keiichi replied and walked over to the television, turning on the device manually, but again, nothing happened.

"Is it broke? Maybe they went shopping for a new one?"

"I doubt it. Skuld could probably fix it if it broke." Keiichi reasoned.

"Maybe it's the circuit breaker?" Megumi said. "I'll go check it, okay?"

"Sure." Keiichi replied, and went to his bedroom to unpack is overnight bag. A few minutes later Megumi came back into the Temple, finding Keiichi in his room still putting his things away.

"It's not the breakers." Megumi reported.

"Hmm. Well, I guess we wait until somebody comes back." Keiichi said. Megumi could hear disappointment in his voice as he stated the obvious course of action.

"I'm sure everything is fine. Hey, do you think Skuld would mind if I borrowed one of her Manga's to read while we wait?" Megumi asked with a smile.

"I don't think she'd mind, it's not like you're going to leave with it." Keiichi chucked, remembering the time when Peorth did just that with Skuld's entire collection of her favorite series.

"What's so funny?" Megumi asked.

"Oh... I was just remembering the time when Peorth stole Skuld's whole collection of her favorite series, when she returned to …. uh.... France." Keiichi answered, quickly thinking of someplace other than Heaven for Peorth to go back to.

"Wow, I'll bet she was angry." Megumi said.

"Angry is an understatement." Keiichi said. "She almost went after her, but Belldandy stopped her, luckily."

"Yeah, I'm sure you all don't have the money for her to go to another country just for a vendetta." Meguni smiled and started walking towards Skuld's room.

Keiichi meanwhile had finished up unpacking and opened up his Mechanical and Thermal Dynamics book. He had a test tomorrow and he hadn't had any time to study yet.


	7. Chapter 6: A Welcomed Rescue

**Disclaimer:**

* * *

_Ah! My Goddess_ and all of its associated characters, plot devices, and fictional settings are owned and maintained by its creator, Kosuki Fujishima ( © 1988 – 2010 ). Any other characters specifically created for this fictional work are fictitious. Any similarity to any persons, living or dead is purely coincidental.

Chapter Six: A Welcomed Rescue.

Heaven, any time reference is pointless.....

Belldandy stood in front of a simple oak desk with only a few papers on it. She pressed top tops of her hands into the top of the desk on her side.

"Rind, please! You have to be able to do [i]something[/i]." She pleaded, almost shedding a tear, but Rind's answer remained the same.

"I'm truly sorry Belldandy. Unless you can prove that a demon is behind her kidnapping, there is simply nothing we can do officially. The Combat Division doesn't have the authority." Rind's voice was calm, but clearly she was beginning to get frustrated by Belldandy's persistence.

"You won't help me as a friend?" Belldandy asked quietly, trying one last time.

"You know I would do almost anything to help you out Bell." Rind looked up into Belldandy's tear filled eyes and gave a small smile of comfort. "I'm over booked as it is with other cases, and I really can't just abandon my post to find your sister." She paused for a moment and stood up, walking slowly around her desk. "I would focus all of my attention and staff to help you – if you can prove a demon is truly behind this and not just a hunch." Rind reassured Belldandy, placing her hand on her shoulder.

"Very well. Thank you for at least taking time to hear my case." Belldandy said, her voice full of disappointment.

"Perhaps Peorth can help for the time being?" Rind suggested, trying to uplift her friend.

"Yeah, maybe." Belldandy said with a glimmer of hope in her voice and turned to walk out of Rind's office.

"Remember, I'll be here for you, okay?" Rind called out after her, returning to her seated position at her desk.

"Yeah.", Belldandy answered silently and closed the door behind her. To her surprise, Peorth was standing just outside waiting for her.

"I heard what happened." Peorth began.

"Is there anything you can do.... please." Belldandy pleaded with her, never before had Peorth seen Belldandy so desperate for help.

"I already tried as soon as I found out she was missing. Yggdrasil couldn't detect her life force signature." Peorth replied.

"What?" Belldandy's eyes popped open full of worry.

"Don't panic. It could mean one of two things. One, she's not on the Earth Plane, or two, she's being masked somehow.... she could simply be [i]sealed[/i]." Peorth further explained.

"That means a demon [i]has[/i] to be involved." Belldandy swung around and reached for the door handle to Rind's office, but Peorth stopped her, grabbing her wrist.

"Don't bother just yet." Peorth said calmly. First, we must prove with out a doubt a demon is involved. She won't listen otherwise." Peorth paused and sighed. "I never thought I would be saying this..." She hesitated, looking into Belldandy's deep blue eyes. "I'm going to help you find her down there."

"You will?" Belldandy really didn't expect anything else, but was still taken by surprise by her willingness to help.

"Oui." The goddess of Love replied with a genuine smile. "Where do you think we should start?" Peorth asked pausing for a second before continuing, "Does Skuld have any enemies?"

Belldandy stood there and thought for a few moments. "Mara." Belldandy said. "She's one of the only demons that continually attacks us."

"Okay, lets go demon hunting!" Peorth cheered loudly and the two goddesses walked towards Yggdrasil's control room to begin their search. Rind, behind her office door, pondered for a moment, giving a smile, she grabbed her battle axe, and trailed behind the two goddesses, keeping her distance.

[hr]

Chicago, April 7, 4:05 am. (I hate the time math with the International Date Line.)

The cargo air craft touched its wheels down on the runway at O'Hare International Airport. Ten minutes of taxiing, and it finally stopped at the reception gate for processing. The cargo door at the rear of the aircraft opened up and a fork lift began unloading the pallets of packages.

"Come on. The coast is clear. We gotta go now." Jeff whispered to his buddies. Terry grabbed the back pack of gear and slung it around his shoulder, while Andy grabbed the duffel bag with Skuld inside and slung it over his shoulder, grunting with the additional weight. The two men followed Jeff cautiously out of the plane and they walked right into the terminal. Hardly anybody was around at this time in the morning, so they could take their time walking out of the airport. Before they did exit, Jeff stopped at a kiosk to rent a car. After giving the required information, and payment, he selected the only cargo van in stock, and the machine dispensed a key.

"Okay, let's go." Jeff said walking outside towards a special parking lot, quickly finding the white cargo van. He turned the key at the back, unlocking the cargo area. Giving the handle a firm tug, the door opened. Andy put their passenger in the back and climbed in with her. Terry shut the door and got in the passenger side, while Jeff got in the driver seat. They hit the highway traveling South-East down I-65.

Andy unlocked the pad lock on the bag and unlatched the clasping to the bag. Slowly he pulled the bag down, revealing Skuld, who was still passed out.

"Wow, that stuff lasts a very long time." Terry commented, seeing that Skuld was still out cold.

"How much did you give her?" Andy asked.

"Just what you put in the syringe." Terry replied. Andy sat back and pondered for a moment before Terry interrupted him. "Hey, where's her … markings?"

"What?" Andy asked.

"The blue things on her face...they're gone. I thought that Mara chick said they were like birthmarks or something." Terry explained.

"I don't know. Maybe that vial stuff you gave her did something to her. She did say it was important. Maybe it disguised her or something." Andy finally reasoned.

"Maybe. Oh well." Terry said.

"That will actually help us out." Jeff finally entered the conversation.

"How?" Terry asked.

"Because if she doesn't have any markings, she'll blend in easier, and she won't be that easy to spot." Jeff explained.

"As if anybody's going to find her where she's going anyway." Andy said.

"Yeah, precisely why I picked Hazard. I'm betting she's going to be in a shotgun wedding within a month." Jeff chuckled.

"Yup. She [i]is[/i] cute." Terry admitted.

"I knew it! You do have a crush on her!" Andy shouted with a smile on his face and pointing his finger at Terry through the wire cage separating the front from the cargo space.

"I do not!" Terry defended.

"Do too." Andy further taunted.

"Alright, [i]kids[/i]. That'll be enough. We've got a long trip ahead of us before we get there, and I don't want to hear '[i]Are we there yet?[/i]' every ten minutes." Jeff said, using a mocking tone impersonating a five year old kid.

"Yes daddy." Andy chuckled, mocking the same five year old kid.

[hr]

Terihongan Temple, April 7, Noon

Mara cautiously approached the Temple, keeping a close eye on the robot that defended the property. She smiled as she was able walk right up next to the idle machine without it even giving a blink or acknowledgement that she was there.

"Wow, those guys are good." Mara said quietly to herself. She walked up the many stairs to the front door and walked right in the open door. Seeing a girl of about twenty with short brown hair sitting on the couch reading a manga she smiled as she tip toed through the living room.

"He's in his bedroom." The girl said, not looking up to Mara.

"How?!" Mara exclaimed but was cut off by the woman.

"You know it's rude to enter somebody's house without knocking first?" Megumi said plainly.

"Mara." Keiichi said, standing outside of his bedroom door seeing the blond demon standing in the living room. "Are you behind this?" He confronted the demon, slowly walking down the hallway towards the living room.

"Yes." She paused, flashing an evil smile. "I see your goddess friends aren't here to save you this time." She added, rubbing her hands together in front of her.

"What do you want?" Keiichi asked, almost demanding.

"Goddess?" Megumi asked with a puzzled tone.

"The same as I always do … Your suffering." Mara replied, ignoring the woman's inquiry.

Then as if perfect timing Urd came through the front door. "Mara. I should have known you'd be involved." Urd said standing triumphantly with her feet apart and hands on her hips in the doorway. Mara turned quickly, her cape swung around her body as she completed her turn to face the goddess.

"Oh, this is perfect. I have a message for you Urd." Mara said grinning even broader.

"Let's take this outside and I'll tear it out of you." Urd challenged.

"Fine." The two deities walked outside, and positioned themselves about twenty paces apart, facing each other, mocking an old western duel. Keiichi and Megumi stood near the front door of the temple and watched with intent. A hawk came from out of nowhere, flying high in the sky, squawking as it flew overhead. About then, Belldandy and Peorth came out of the bathroom mirror. Quickly, they ran to the front door, hearing the commotion outside.

"I heard from Hild. She said to tell you that if you ever want to see your little Skuld again, you'll give her a visit." Mara said, her voice rasped with each word.

"You're lying." Urd said confidently. "Now tell me the truth before I destroy you. What have you done with Skuld?"

"Yes, tell us, Mara!" Belldandy said strongly, as both her and Peorth joined Urd's side.

"I..." She started, and paused for effect. "...have done nothing with her." She smiled confidently.

"She's telling the truth." Peorth said and frowned.

"Very well. Where shall I meet Hild?" Urd asked daringly.

"NO!" Belldandy interrupted.

"Oh yes, Belldandy. Urd is going to meet with Hild... and Hild is going to have her daughter once more... and there is [i]nothing[/i] you can do about it if you ever want to see your darling Skuld alive again." Mara said, laughing, seeing victory in the not too distant future.

"We'll see about that." Urd said. "I call LIGHTNING!" She announced. A bolt of white light came down from the Heavens and struck the demon where she stood. To Urd's surprise, it had little effect.

"You can't hurt me. I did nothing." Mara said laughing more. "Hild will come see you when she is ready." Mara said, and disappeared an a puff of black smoke where she stood.

"Urd, you can't do it. Not Hild." Belldandy pleaded.

"I don't have much of a choice, not that I like it any. She's got us between a rock and a hard place." Urd reasoned.

"Perhaps... you need to use one of those fancy lighting bolts and blow up the rock then." Rind declared from the front porch, standing behind Keiichi and Megumi, holding her battle-axe in hand.

"Woah." Keiichi said, taking a step outside to let the new goddess through the doorway.

"Rind? … But I thought---" Belldandy spoke confused.

"I know what I said, but I also overheard Peorth too, and decided to just follow along to see what you'd find. Clearly, we have full jurisdiction now. The Valkyries are at your service, Belldandy." Rind announced with pleasure in her voice.

"This just got interesting." Urd said ramming her balled fist into her palm and grinning.

"Bell? Who is---" Keiichi began to ask.

"Keiichi, I want you to meet Rind, a member of the Special Combat Division.... She also has a First Class License." Belldandy said, introducing her friend, but used some discretion leaving off the goddess part.

"What just happened here? How...Where did...?" Megumi was dumbfounded. Keiichi sighed with defeat. "Let's all go inside. I need to sit down and tell you something, Meg."

[hr]

About half an hour later....

"So let me get this straight. Belldandy, Urd, Skuld, and... Peorth and Rind... are all goddesses from Heaven... and they all found you because you dialed the wrong phone number ordering pizza?" Megumi summarized.

"Yes." Belldandy answered with her usual cheerful self.

"Wow, Keiichi, you must be the luckiest man to ever live." Megumi said smiling.

"I guess..." Keiichi couldn't help but blush at his sister's innuendo.

"Alright, we've got work to do. I say we bust down Mara's door and demand --" Urd started.

"Demand what?" Rind asked gently. "We are in no position to demand anything yet." She paused. "All we know is that somehow, she got a hold of Skuld and that Hild is involved somehow."

"If Hild is involved, you can bet Mara has paid a high price for her help to pull this off." Urd suggested.

"And..." Peorth chimed in. "... who is to say that she won't try taking another one of you out of the house again in the middle of the night."

"We'll have to stand guard." Belldandy answered plainly. "Mara has found a weak point in our defenses."

"If she tries anything again, she will be defeated." Rind said with confidence.

"What if she brings Hild too? Only the Almighty One can defeat her in a one-to-one fight." Urd pointed out.

"We will have to take that chance. Either way, we have a most delicate situation on our hands. We still don't know where she has taken Skuld. More than likely though, we can be assured that she's been sealed so we won't be able to find her using any of our normal means." Rind explained.

"So how do we find her?" Megumi asked a bit shyly.

"The old fashioned way, sis." Keiichi smiled as he walked out of his bedroom, wearing a grey trench coat and a fedora. "Who wants to be a detective?"

"Where did you find that?" Megumi giggled at the sight.

"Eh, I had it laying around." Keiichi answered.

"Well, we can assume that Skuld is probably hidden in plain sight if she's been sealed. So let's start there." Urd said. "Hey, didn't Skuld make something that detects Seals?"

"Yes, yes, I do think so. I don't know if she ever got it working though." Belldandy answered.

"Let's give it a try...What's it look like?" Keiichi asked.

"I know exactly where it is." Urd said, and marched into Skuld's room. She opened her closet and found a cardboard box sitting on the floor in the corner. She pulled out the box and opened the flaps, revealing lots of gadgets. One by one, she emptied the box, until she found a small silver box with a analog meter on it front of it.

"This is it." Urd said holding the device up.

"Okay, let's go then. She could be anywhere so, keep your eyes open for anything unusual." Peorth said calmly.

Urd switched on the device and handed it to Keiichi. "Here, you can use this, I'll fly up and see if I can detect anything from up high."

"Belldandy and I shall go utilize Yggdrasil. Perhaps we can find something now that we have a clue what we are looking for." Peorth said, while Keiichi and Megumi started for their motorcycles.

"We'll start looking in town and at the university."

"I shall remain here, and wait for Hild to show, if she shows." Rind volunteered.

The group split up and began searching the areas they volunteered for.

[hr]

Somewhere in Kentucky, April 7, Noon...

Skuld slowly opened her eyes after being jostled awake from the bumps in the road. She glanced around, not moving, to see she was inside a white metal van. There was a cage to her right where the driver and Terry was, and nothing much else in the back with her besides one of the guys with long brown hair, who was asleep and propped up against the side and a backpack. Slowly she shoved her body towards the back, using each bump in the road to make it further and further back. Once she found the door she tried to sit up, keeping a close eye on her capturs.

"Hey!" Jeff called from up front, spotting her in his rear view mirror. "Andy! Wake up! Get her!"

Andy's eyes popped open at hearing his name being yelled. Terry also turned around and glanced in the back.

"And just what do you think you're doing?" Andy said as he got up from his relaxed position. Skuld, now panicked, and turned her body around, facing the back doors. She quickly found the door handle and pulled it every which way until it unlocked the door and popped wide open. Jeff hit a pot hole and she bounced out of the moving van at nearly fifty miles per hour, just in time too, because Andy had nearly grabbed her ankle. She continued rolling with the momentum she had from the van, which had slammed on its breaks, leaving dark burnt rubber marks in the middle of the road. Skuld glanced around, and noticed a tree line to her left. She hobbled across the road and into the trees, slipping on the edge of a unseen cliff, she tumbled down the steep hill and rolled into the middle of another road below. Right in front of an oncoming car.

"Shit!" A teenage boy of about sixteen yelled out and slammed on his breaks just before hitting the girl in front of him. The forward momentum along with his sudden jerk of the steering wheel caused his car to whip around, missing the girl, but now he faced her going the wrong way on the road.

"Hey, there she is! Get her!" Jeff cried out, while Andy and Terry both started making their way down the steep hill side. Seeing the situation, the driver got out of his beat up black Honda Civic, mumbling, '[i]Just what the hell did I get myself into.[/i]'

"Hey, are you okay?" He asked the black haired girl who was still sitting in the middle of the road.

"watashi wa oshirase kudasai " Skuld said softly, with a pleading look of help in her eyes.

"I have no idea what you just said, but..." He said as he scooped the girl up in his arms and half ran to the passenger side door. Propping her up on on knee, he fiddled with the door to open it, and once open, he dumped the girl in the seat, slamming the door shut. Running to the other side of the car, he jumped into the drivers seat, slamming the door and switched the gear shifter into first gear, flooring the accelerator petal, and leaving a cloud of smoke behind him from where his tires squealed into the asphalt. Just in time to miss Terry and Andy who had made it to the bottom of the hill.

Quickly shifting from first to second gear, he fiddled with his seat belt, once clicked in place, he reached over Skuld, and yanked on the seatbelt, wrapping it across her body, and fiddled with it to lock it in place.

"Hi, I'm Dirk. What's your name?" Dirk asked while switching in to third gear. Skuld didn't answer. She really didn't know what he had just said to her, if he was even speaking to her, since he didn't look at her when he said it. Moments later, the van caught up behind the little Honda.

"Hold on." Dirk said, and flipped up a switch, causing the car to greatly jump in acceleration as the engine roared down the road. Quickly they passed 100 miles per hour and were still getting faster. The road bent to the left and to the right. Dirk easily maneuvered his car around the bends in the road, and dodged a slow poke taking their time. Glancing back in his rear view mirror, he saw the van, and it was falling behind quickly. Dirk slammed on the breaks and made a sharp left turn at a cross street and then stomped on the gas again. The car flew over a hill, becoming airborne for only a moment. Skuld screamed with fear, the car seemed so out of control as it sped through the countryside.

Dirk looked back to see the van hadn't turned down the road he had. He slowed the car down and pulled up a gravel driveway quietly tucked away through some dense trees. At the end of the gravel, stood a broken down trailer. Car engine parts littered the front lawn along with plenty of old tires.

"Well, it ain't much, but it's home." Dirk said slightly embarrassed by his home. He turned and looked at the girl, noticing that she was tied up and still appeared to be in what he would consider her pajamas.

"Stay here a moment." Dirk said, not thinking that she [i]could[/i] actually go if she wanted to. He ran up to the screen door and flung it open. She could hear him rummaging through a stuff inside. She glanced around, seeing a dense wooded lot, far enough from the road that she relaxed a bit giving a long sigh, knowing that her captors probably wouldn't find her. A moment later, Dirk came out the front screen door again, holding a six inch commando knife. Skuld tensed up seeing the dangerous looking knife.

"watashi wo kizutsukeru shi nai de kudasai!" Skuld nearly screamed at Dirk with fear. Just what was he going to do with that knife. She didn't want to be hurt.

"I have no idea what you're saying...um... whatever your name is. Just relax." Dirk said, spreading his fingers while holding the knife between his index finger and thumb. A moment later he appraoched her, and slipped the knife blade between her and the rope and gave it a firm tug, snapping the rope, and releasing her wrists from her ankles. Dirk put the knife down on the ground and untied the quadrupled square knots that held her wrists together. Once her hands were freed, she smiled at Dirk, knowing that he was here to actually help her. He bend down and grabbed her feet, giving them a tug as he swung them out of the car. Taking a seat on the ground, he worked on the knots binding her feet together, ever so often unintentionally tickling her bare feet, which Skuld would giggle. Once freed, he offered his hand to her to help her out of the car.

"Arigato." said in gratitude, taking the young boy's hand. Once standing, she took her first real look at the boy that had helped her escape. He was quite a bit taller than she was, probably over five and a half feet tall. He had spiked bleached brown hair and deep blue eyes. He had a nice tan, and had some nice muscle tone in his arms. He wore a white tee-shirt and stained, faded blue jeans and sneakers.

Skuld's stomach grumbled angrily, which caused her to look down and blush. Dirk chuckled. "Let's get you something to eat.. and maybe cleaned up a bit. He led her inside his trailer and fumbled around in the kitchen for something quick to feed her. Not finding anything he looked at her from head to toe.

"I'll be right back." Dirk said, Skuld just stood there. A few minutes later, Dirk came back holding a pair of folded pair of gray sweat pants and a matching sweat shirt. Dirk held them out the girl saying, "You can change into these. The bathroom is over there." He pointed with his other hand. Skuld turned to see what he was pointing at and took the clothes.

"Feel free to wash up too, okay?" Dirk said. Skuld only answered "Arigato", not knowing what he said, but quickly figured out she should get changed. Once in the tiny bathroom she shut the door and figured out how to lock it. She undressed slowly, trying to avoid the spots where the rope had burned into her wrists and ankles. She kicked her clothes into a pile and opened the clear shower door. After a simple inspection of the nob, she pulled it out, and water sprayed from the shower head.

"Oh, um.. the letters are reversed. Hot is actually to the right!" Dirk called from the other side of the door. While Skuld fiddled with the nob turning it left, the water got colder, she quickly turned it the other way and steam began to fill the room.


	8. Chapter 7: First Date

**Disclaimer:**

* * *

_Ah! My Goddess_ and all of its associated characters, plot devices, and fictional settings are owned and maintained by its creator, Kosuki Fujishima ( © 1988 – 2010 ). Any other characters specifically created for this fictional work are fictitious. Any similarity to any persons, living or dead is purely coincidental.

Chapter Seven: First Date

Kentucky, April 7, 1:00 pm...

A white cargo van crept to a stop at the intersection just over a hill. Jeff got out of the van and stood in the empty road.

"They defiantly went this way." He pointed out, seeing the tire tracks burned into the road. He turned and got back into the van and turned down the roadway.

"There doesn't seem to be much on this road." Terry pointed out, seeing hardly anything but trees on either side of the road with a gravel driveway tucked in between the trees every so often.

"She's here somewhere. I just know it." Jeff said continuing to scan the roadway for any clues.

Skuld had finished with her shower and dried herself off with the only towel in the bathroom, trying desperately to wring out her soaked hair, she stood in a puddle in the middle of the floor before giving up. She whipped off the mirror on the medicine cabinet and saw her tangled mess of black hair neatly framing her teenage face. Her eyes were filled with curiosity. She didn't recognize the person staring back at her, yet she knew it was herself. Skuld picked up the sweats that she set on the sink counter and threw them on. The pants were about three inches too long, and covered half of each foot, while the shirt was very baggy over her slim body. A moment later, she opened the door and a puff of white steam escaped into the kitchen. Dirk sat and waited anxiously for her.

"All better now?" Dirk said, standing up as he eyed her from head to toe. "Yeah, it's a bit too big. We'll go into town and get you something more … you." Dirk laughed a bit, Skuld giggled ever so slightly, not knowing why he was laughing.

"Oh, here." Dirk reached into his back pocket and whipped out a small black comb. Holding it out for the girl to accept. Skuld looked at the comb, and reluctantly took it. She went back into the bathroom and began coming out the knots. Ever so often Dirk heard Skuld whimpering, "Itai." as she hit a snag. Fifteen minutes later, she was ready.

"Wow." Dirk said softly upon seeing her prettied up for the first time, even in sweat clothes – his, she still was beautiful. Skuld saw his reaction and blushed, turning her head downwards, yet smiled gently. Dirk took a step up to his new guest, and took her hand and gently tugged her to follow him.

"Come on. Let's get you something to eat. I've got a friend who runs an Asian restaurant. Maybe he speaks Chinese too. Dirk helped Skuld into his beat up Honda and shut the door as gently as he could, and then walked around back, casually getting in the drivers seat. With the turn of his key, the engine sprang to life and he guided the car down the driveway. About a mile down the road, they met up with white van going the opposite direction.

"Hey! There they are!" Terry yelled, noticing the dents along the front of the car. Jeff slammed on the breaks, and whipped the van around in a 180, the tires squealed the whole time.

"Oh crap!" Dirk exclaimed, and immediately floored the accelerator. "We can't go too fast on this road, but the Interstate is coming up soon. We'll loose 'em on that." Dirk commented, while a look of panic was written on Skuld's face.

"Hey, everything is going to be okay." Dirk reassured the young girl. "This piece of junk can out run anything on four wheels....cops included." he added flashing a smile.

Two minutes later, Dirk passed the sign showing an upcoming entrance ramp for I-75. Dirk guided the car along the entrance ramp, climbing in speeds not meant for an entrance as he passed 90 miles per hour. "Do you want some music?" Dirk offered hoping that the distraction would help calm her down. Not seeing any response from her, other than her looking at him, Dirk turned on his stereo and pushed a few buttons. The next song on his MP3 player was the theme to Beverly Hills Cop. He turned up the volume to something obnoxious as the wind flew through the opened windows of his car. Dirk glanced in his rear view mirror and saw the van keeping pace with him about half a mile back.

"Let's loose these jerks." Dirk said, spotting a clump of congestion up ahead. He maneuvered his car into the left shoulder at the last minute, getting honked at by several cars going the speed limit. Finally clearing the slower cars, he saw why they were all going so slow. A highway patrol car was leading the pack on the right. Seeing the Honda speed past him, he flipped on his lights and started pursuit. Then the white van sped pass the cop. Dirk hit his speed switch, and the car jerked as the infusion of pure speed hit then engine. He was doing well over the 120 maximum speed his speedometer would register. Glancing in the mirror, he saw the cop had successfully pulled over the white van, and he slowed down to slightly above 70 miles per hour.

"Phew! That was fun." Dirk said with a new smile, his adrenaline was pumping through him. Now seeing signs pointing towards Cincinnati, he took the ramp to go around the city along the outer belt.

"We'll be at the restaurant in about ten minutes." Dirk commented, taking another glance at his passenger. She was the first girl he had in his car, and he didn't even know her name. This could be considered his first date in fact. He couldn't help but to smile again. Now he started feeling the usual nervousness he had always felt when near a girl, when she smiled back at him. That ten minutes seemed to take an eternity.

Finally, he pulled into a rather empty parking lot. Shutting the engine off he walked around and opened the door for his passenger, helping her unlatch the seatbelt, he offered his hand to help her out of the bucket seat. A few more steps and the couple was inside. The hostess merely smiled at Dirk mentioning quietly that he may seat himself. Dirk chose a side booth, sitting across from Skuld.

"What may I get you?" An oriental woman with long thin black hair asked Dirk in almost broken English.

"I'll have my usual, Steak Hibachi, Miso soup, with white rice, a Coke and one of those Philadelphia Rolls." Dirk rattled off his entire order and then glanced over at Skuld. Her eyes lit up when she heard the first word she could recognize: miso.

"Hey, is Kev in?" Dirk asked innocently.

"Yes. I will tell him you here." She replied, and looked back at Skuld, waiting for her order.

"Uh... she doesn't speak English .. I guess.... in fact, I don't think she's from around here." Dirk offered.

The waitress opened up the menu and started pointing to pictures, which Skuld pointed to a simple Tempora dish. The watiress turned her head and gave the order in her native tongue.

"3-Ban, shiro gohan, kōra,-sū 52, oyobi sū 15." She went to grab Skuld's menu, but Skuld grabbed her wrist stopping her. The two girls made eye contact.

"Anata wa watashi o rikai deki masu ka?" Skuld prayed inside that waitress could understand what she just said.

"Hai." the waitress responded nodding her head. Skuld's face lit up and she had the biggest smile since she was first taken.

"Anata wa watashi o rikai shite saisho no hito desu. Doko made hanashi mashi ta ka?" Skuld replied that she was the first person that understood her, and she desperately wanted to know where she was.

"Shinshinati" the waitress replied that she was in Cincinnati. About then Kevin came up to the table.

"Hey Dirk, how are you today?" he said, his English was nearly fluent.

"I'm fine. I wanted to ask you if you know what language she's speaking in. It's sounded like Chinese or something." Dirk answered and immediately asked his the burning question on his mind.

"She is speaking Japanese." The waitress offered.

"What's she saying?" Dirk asked.

"She wanted to know where she was." The waitress answered. Dirk nervously sat there looking at the young girl in front of him.

"Could you ask her what her name is please?" Dirk finally asked. He could feel his hands begin to get clammy.

"Kare wa anata no namae wa shitte iru kibō desu ka?" The waitress asked, pointing at Dirk.

"Skuld." She answered simply.

"That's an unusual name. I like it." Dirk smiled.

"It's not Japanese, that's for sure." Keven commented.

"Go get the food, please." Kevin asked the waitress and turned his attention back to Skuld, taking a seat next to Dirk.

"Doko kara ki ta no?" Kevin asked the girl where she was from.

Skuld hesitated, not really remembering anything, finally she responded that she didn't know. "Watashi wa ike nai' shitte iru."

"Hmm." Kevin pondered.

"What? What is it?" Dirk insisted, feeling left out of the conversation.

"I think she has some kind of amnesia." Kevin finally said.

"....Why?" Dirk drug out slowly.

"She doesn't know where she's from." Kevin answered flatly. The waitress had returned to the table with all the food, and then some for Kevin, thinking that he'd start his lunch break to eat with his friend.

"Thank you." Kevin replied, as the waitress put the plate in front of him.

"She may be here for a while. Maybe you should take her to the hospital?" Kevin suggested, turning to Dirk.

"No." Dirk snapped out. "Um... she's being..." he hesitated.

"She's being..." Kevin asked hoping not to have to beat it out of Dirk.

"She's being stalked." Dirk finally said, not finding a better word to describe her situation.

"Stalked?" Kevin raised an eyebrow. Dirk sighed, and reluctantly began to describe the last hour. Meanwhile, Skuld was eating like a horse, gulping down food very quickly.

"Your friend seems very hungry." Kevin pointed out interrupting Dirk. "Another plate – House special." Kevin called over to the kitchen.

"Hai!" the chef responded as he thew on some more meat on the stove.

"Don't worry, this one's on the house, okay?" Kevin reassured Dirk, knowing he never has very much money.

"Thanks man." Dirk said with an embarrassed smile.

After the plate came, Kevin pointed to Skuld. The waitress put the plate down in front of her, and took the empty plates of food from the table.

"I've got something that may help." Kevin said getting up from the table.

"What's that?" Dirk called out, but Kevin ignored him, stepping in to the back office. Dirk's gaze returned to Skuld, who had slowed down her ingestion rate.

"Pretty hungry, huh?" Dirk asked. Skuld looked up at Dirk with a blank look on her face.

"I'll um.. take that as a yes." Dirk chuckled.

A moment later Kevin came back with a book in his hands.

"What's that?" Dirk asked.

"It won't help you so much as it will her." Kevin explained. "This was the book that I used to learn English."

"Ohhhh." Dirk said. "How long do you think it'll take her?" he further asked.

"It took me a few months of reading and practicing everyday... but then again, I'm a bit older than she is." Kevin admitted.

"Okay, well, it will really help out, I'm sure." Dirk said, smiling. Skuld picked up the book off the table and opened it. A few minutes of flipping pages, she closed the book and put it down on the table.

"Thank you for your kindness." Skuld said in perfect English. Both Kevin and Dirk were stunned with amazement.

"I honestly wasn't expecting it to be that quick." Kevin said.

"Yeah....how did you do that?" Dirk asked, still amazed.

"I .. I don't know. I.. could see the entire book in my head." Skuld reluctantly explained.

"Cool." Dirk said slowly. Skuld smiled, and turned a slight shade of red.

"Skuld....." Dirk asked, grabbing her attention. "Would you like to go clothing shopping?" he asked.

"Yes!" Skuld nodded fiercely. Kevin chuckled at the response.

"Okay." Dirk said with a chuckle. "Thanks man. I owe ya." he said as he turned to Kevin.

"No problem." Kevin answered and watched the two leave.

Terihongan Temple, April 7, 11:00 pm...

Belldandy and Peorth were the last two to return to the temple.

"Anything?" Belldandy asked the group.

"No." Keiichi said sadly.

"Nothing." Urd answered.

"Hild hasn't made her presence known either." Rind said firmly.

"Did you find anything? Keiichi asked, looking into Belldandy's blue eyes.

"We ran a full planetary sweep for any active seals." Peorth said. "We didn't find any. Not one."

"So, what does that mean?" Megumi asked naively.

"It means that she's not sealed up. There has to be another reason why we can't detect her." Urd answered.

"A demon-realm?" Rind suggested.

"It's a possibility we have to consider." Urd answered, not really looking forward to doing it though.

"So what do we do now?" Keiichi asked.

"I have an idea." Belldandy said with a glimmer of optimism, and walked out the front door. Everybody else in the room walked through the front door behind her, and watched as Belldandy went from each animal and bird she could find, showing them a holographic looking image of Skuld being carried by two men.

"How man demon realms … are there?" Keiichi asked Urd.

"You don't want to know." Urd answered flatly.

"There are many. Just as many as there are Heavenly realms, and other realms in between." Rind's answer followed.

"What if she is still on Earth?" Megumi suggested.

"How? We've determined that she isn't." Peorth replied.

"Right....I don't really know how you know that but.... " Megumi said, staring at the image that Belldandy was presenting to a group of crickets. "Two men carried her out the door. Human men—not demons. What if she's not _near_ here?" She explained her logic.

"Where could she be then?" Urd asked flatly.

"There's an airport not too far from here. Belldandy mentioned they went West, which is where that airport is. I think tomorrow, we should go check it out." Megumi suggested, her voice was full of optimism.

"It's worth a try." Rind said plainly while exhaling.

Cincinnati, April 7, 3:00 pm...

Skuld stepped out of the dressing room, giving half a smile. "What do you think of this?" She asked innocently. She had chosen a simple pink sun dress with a tie on the front, plain white sneakers and scrunched down white socks.

"Are you sure that's all you want?" Dirk asked, expecting that she would say no.

"Yes. It fits me perfectly." Skuld replied with a smile.

"Maybe you should grab a few of them then. You know you don't have to be penny pinching. I've got plenty of money." Dirk explained.

"I don't want to impose on you." Skuld answered shyly.

"It's okay, really it is." Dirk reassured her.

"Okay." Skuld responded and grabbed another sun dress, this one was red.

"You really like these huh?" Dirk pointed out the obvious.

"Yes. They are comfortable... and my favorite color." Skuld admitted.

"Alright then." Dirk said, noting the size, and cleared off a rack in assorted colors of her size. Skuld opened her mouth to object, but Dirk cut her off, shooting her a grin.

"I insist."

"Okay." Skuld answered flatly.

The pair walked over to a wall displaying packages of underwear. Dirk blushed a bit and stepped to the side.

"I... uh....well.... um.. just pick some." He blushed fiercely, and turned his back. Skuld looked over at him, and raised her eyebrow at his sudden odd behavior. Shrugging her shoulders, she reviewed the various styles and picked a package that was about her size. She walked around to the other half of the wall, which had various bras out for display. After carefully reviewing her choices, she finally settled on a package, and put the underwear in the basket.

"All finished?" Dirk asked.

"Yes. I need to change --" Skuld started for the dressing room, but Dirk stopped her, grabbing her forearm gently.

"No you don't. You can wear it out of the store, it's okay." Dirk said, and guided Skuld towards the cash register.

"Did you find everything alright today?" The cashier asked politely.

"Yes, she did." Dirk answered putting a few bar code tags on the table for the clothes Skuld was already wearing and pulled out a wad of cash waiting for the final total to come up.

"That will be Seventy-three dollars and ninety-four cents."

Dirk thumbed out four twenty dollar bills and patiently waited for the change.

"Thank you and have a nice day." the cashier waved as they left the store.

"So what do you want to do now?" Dirk asked Skuld.

"I don't know." Skuld answered, not knowing really what to do. Dirk pondered for a moment, staring at his steering wheel. "I've got an idea." He said strapping his seat belt on and turning the ignition. Moments later, he pulled out of the parking lot.


	9. Chapter 8: Found and Lost

**Disclaimer:**

* * *

_Ah! My Goddess_ and all of its associated characters, plot devices, and fictional settings are owned and maintained by its creator, Kosuki Fujishima ( © 1988 – 2010 ). Any other characters specifically created for this fictional work are fictitious. Any similarity to any persons, living or dead is purely coincidental.

Chapter Eight: Found and Lost

Cincinnati, August 7, 5:30 pm...

The movie theater emptied out, Skuld held Dirk's hand so not to get lost in the crowd.

"Well, it wasn't a bad movie." Dirk commented, trying to start a conversation.

"I totally didn't understand it at all. I mean, there was like dude with awesome powers, and a truck driver – like why did he even get involved?" Skuld replied.

"He... was at the wrong place at the wrong time?" Dirk guessed as he opened the passenger side door. Skuld got in and buckled herself in tightly pulling on the shoulder strap with a firm tug.

"You're not nervous or anything, are you?" Dirk asked seeing Skuld's extra effort with the seatbelt.

"No, but every time I've gotten into your car, you've driven... like a madman." Skuld answered hesitating at the last words. Dirk chuckled and started the engine.

"Hey, do you like ice cream?" Dirk asked out of the blue.

"Yeah..I think so." Skuld answered, not really sure if she liked it or not. It did, however, seem very familiar to her.

"Great! I know this wonderful little place that serves the best ice cream in town." Dirk said with a broad smile on his face.

The two took their time getting to the place, which turned out to be a little pub nestled inside of a mini-mall. Walking inside, the two took a corner booth with high seat backs.

"What can I get for you two today?" A man wearing what looked like a tuxedo asked as he approached the table.

"We'll have some of your world-famous ice cream." Dirk replied.

"Okay, and what flavor?"

"Um...." Dirk looked up at Skuld for any kind of response, but not receiving one, he played it safe. "Vanilla." He finally said.

"Okay, one vanilla and two spoons coming right up!" He said and ran off to the kitchen before Dirk could correct him. He nervously laughed, giving Skuld a goofy smile.

"It's okay. I don't mind sharing.... " she said and paused before continuing. "... I don't even know if I like ice cream."

Dirk fiddled around with the silverware in front of him, unwrapping the the napkin, he dropped the silverware on the table, making a loud jingle as each piece hit the table top. Skuld picked up that he seemed nervous and smiled gently.

"So... what do your parents do? She attempted to start small talk.

"I don't have any." Dirk answered simply, which took Skuld by surprise a bit. She tilted her head slightly to the left and continued.

"Um... okay?" She said, puzzled at how to respond to that without being rude.

"I was a foster kid. I got fed up with being shuffled around the system. Just before I was supposed to go to a new family, I ran away, and found that trailer I live – it was abandoned. The neighbors don't seem to mind.... I keep the place tidied up, and they seem to like all the little things I do around, picking up the trash, cutting lawns..." His voice trailed off.

"Oh, I see." Skuld said looking downward.

"It's actually kind of nice that you're with me. It's nice to have somebody to talk to." Dirk mentioned. Skuld glanced up and smiled, and took his hand.

"I'm glad we met also." Skuld said still smiling. The waiter came back to the table with a huge bowl of ice cream. It must have been half a gallon, along with a couple of cherries on top and hot fudge drizzled all around. He also put down to very long spoons, one in front of Skuld, and another in front of Dirk. He looked at both of the teens and asked, "Is there anything else I can get you?"

"Um, yeah, how about a Coke?" Dirk asked politely.

"And for you miss?"

"I'll have a Coke too. Thank you." Skuld replied.

The waiter walked off and the two kids stared at each other.

"Ladies first." Dirk suggested that he was going to wait for her to take the first bite. Skuld smiled uncomfortably, and picked up her spoon, taking a moderately sized scoop of the ice cream, she slowly put it into her mouth. An explosion of flavor followed, as the sweet cream gently melted on to her tongue. She smiled as it coated and chilled her mouth. But something else also occurred. She felt something happening to her body as she swallowed the first bite. It was a strange feeling, almost as if she was getting light-headed. Her heart began to race, and her body started to tingle ever so slightly. It was a feeling of pure bliss for her, and she couldn't seem to satisfy it. Skuld quickly took another, much larger bite this time, and left it in her mouth just long enough for the cream to melt down her throat.

"I guess you like it, huh?" Dirk asked, knowing the answer already.

"Mmmm, yes I do...It feels _really_ good." Skuld answered, her voice almost with a seductive quality to it. Dirk looked back at Skuld, seeing her reaction to cool treat, and dismissed it as '_she's just being weird...I guess_'. Faster and faster, Skuld scooped the vanilla goodness in to her mouth, and before Dirk knew it, the dessert had been devoured, in only five minutes.

"Do you want some more?" Dirk asked, seeing as he only got about four bites. Skuld fiercely nodded her head up and down grinning a large smile.

"Okay, one more bowl coming up." Dirk said and got up from the seat, walking towards the front counter. Skuld sat and watched as Dirk walked, though, she could feel something happening with her body. Not only was she feeling very good, and almost high-like, her body tingled all over, as if she had been electrocuted with a low voltage battery. Dirk returned with a second bowl of ice cream, and watched in amazement as she devoured that bowl just as quickly as the first.

"I feel..." Skuld began and hesitated, trying to find the right word to describe how she felt. "... amazing!"

Dirk looked at Skuld, and saw that she had a glow about her, her smile seemed to warm the room. She looked incredible. Unable to really answer her, he simply nodded and returned her smile with his own.

"Shall we get out of here?" Dirk asked. He wanted to try to get to know Skuld a bit better, and figured that a Q and A session would probably work better at home. Skuld answered him by getting up out of the booth, and followed him to the car.

Terihongan Temple, August 8, 8:00 am...

Belldandy was fixing breakfast in the kitchen when she all of a sudden dropped the frying pan full of carrots and cabbage all of the floor. Urd, Megumi, Rind and Keiichi all came out of the bedrooms.

"What happened?" Keiichi was the first to ask, running over to Belldandy's side as she crouched on the kitchen floor, tears running down her face. "Are you okay – what's wrong?" Keiichi panicked.

"Nothing's wrong Keiichi." Urd said with a sly smile on her face.

"But she's crying!" Keiichi argued.

"Those are tears of happiness." Urd pointed out.

"Huh?" A confused Keiichi asked.

"I – I felt Skuld!" Belldandy finally announced with a gentle smile on her face, tears flowed down her cheeks.

"I know. I felt her too." Urd said. A moment later the telephone rang. Megumi walked over to it and picked up the receiver. "Morrisa---"

"Put Belldandy on!" An excited Peorth almost screamed into Megumi's right ear.

"Bell? It's for you." Megumi said, holding out the phone. Belldandy stood up and ran to the phone. "Belldandy – " She answered, but Peorth cut her off.

"I found her! I found Skuld!!" Peorth repeated. Belldandy could picture Peorth jumping up and down, bubbling with excitement as chanted.

"Yes. Both Urd and I have felt her. Where is she?"

"What does she mean … _you felt her_?" Keiichi asked dumbfounded.

"We three, Bell, Skuld, and myself, share a special _sisterly_ bond. We can feel each other – intense feelings of pain or pleasure.... they travel through space...through other realms. I don't really know how I can explain it to you." Urd answered.

"Which means that she's defiantly not sealed." Rind pointed out.

"How do you know?" Keiichi asked, turning his attention to Rind.

"Because, if she was sealed, … it would be like time stopped for her. She wouldn't feel _anything_." Rind explained.

"She's in America." Belldandy announced as she hung up the phone.

"What!?!" Everybody in the room answered unanimously.

"Yeah, Peorth is coming down here with a map pin pointing her location shortly. Then all we have to do is go to her." Belldandy said buzzing with excitement.

"Okay, that's great. But how are we going to get to America. We can't afford next weeks grocery's let alone a plane trip half way around the World." Keiichi said, deflating the mood.

"I don't think that will be a problem." Urd said, smiling.

"Before we jump ahead of ourselves, there is the matter of Hild to contend with. For all we know, this could be a trap." Rind said trying to control the rampaging emotions in the room.

"Yes, it could be, but it's something we're going to have to risk." Urd shot back glaring at Rind. Moments later Peorth entered from the front door.

"So how did you find her?" Megumi asked, assuming it was Peorth's work in Heaven that found her.

"I set Yggdrasil to detect power fluctuations, and keyed it to Skuld's energy signature. I really wasn't counting on that to yield any results, but it was something to try. A few minutes ago, the system registered an subtle power spike. At first I couldn't belive it was her – until I cross-referenced the database, and saw there were no deities in that region at the time." Peorth explained.

"Cool." Megumi answered slightly confused, but she was able to comprehend enough of what the goddess said to understand most of it.

"So how are we going to get to America?" Keiichi persisted.

"We will all teleport there." Urd answered.

"You can't do that...it's forbidden!" Rind shot back in an angry tone.

"I think we can bend the rules just this once – besides, we can't leave Keiichi and Megumi here. They could be in danger if Mara or Hild comes back to check in on them." Urd pointed out.

"I don't like it." Rind said glaring back.

"It's the only way. Besides, it's only this one time." Urd said.

"You just want to break the rules." Rind said, poking her finger into Urd's chest.

"Maybe I do? So what. Let's do this!" Urd cheered, cracking her fingers.

Seeing as she wasn't going to win this argument, Rind backed down and sighed.

Kentucky, August 7, 6:15 pm...

Three men sat and waited in a secluded driveway along a lone country road. Terry sighed with boredom.

"Just be patient. We know he lives somewhere near here. We just have to wait for him to pass." Jeff said, and as if wishing on a star the beat up Honda whizzed by.

"Perfect timing." Andy said as he grinned. Jeff pulled out of the driveway and followed the car about half a mile ahead of them. Jeff noted which driveway the teenagers turned into and passed it up.

"Why did you pass them?" Terry asked.

"Because....we're going to get her tonight while she's asleep...just like last time." Jeff answered cooly.

"Awesome." Terry replied.

Skuld opened her door and froze half way undoing her seat belt.

She saw hot flames all around her, things were hardly recognizable anymore. She felt so hot, burning almost. Crying out, terrified, her body shivered. Dirk walked up to her and shook her, grabbing her forearms.

"Skuld? Are you okay? Skuld!?"

The vision ended as she saw Dirk staring into her eyes. "Are you okay?" Dirk asked gently.

"Something bad is going to happen. Soon." Skuld said, her voice still trembled with fright.

"What are you talking about?" Dirk asked.

"It was weird. All of a sudden, I saw...." Her voice trailed off.

"You saw..._what_?" Dirk persisted.

"Fire. Lots of fire. It was so hot...so real." Skuld quietly said.

"I'm sure it's nothing. I get those sometimes, usually nothing ever happens. It's almost like Dejavu." Dirk explained.

"O—okay, if you insist." Skuld reluctantly agreed. Both teens walked inside the trailer and Dirk switched on the television, sitting down on the small couch not more than three feet away.

"Do you like anything in particular?" Dirk asked Skuld, switching though the channels. Spotting a cartoon on one of the channels, she said, "Wait...go back." Dirk went back until he came to the Cartoon Network.

"You like this stuff?" Dirk inquired, raising an eyebrow.

"Yes. .. I think so anyway." Skuld answered unsure herself. "It looks funny." She added.

"Okay, cartoons for the lady!" Dirk announced, and sat back, keeping his hands firmly planted in his lap. His thigh was touching hers. He was very uncomfortable, as he looked to see he couldn't scoot over any more. Meanwhile, Skuld reached over and grabbed his hand with hers, giving it a gentle squeeze. Dirk glanced over at Skuld, seeing that she was zoned into the cartoon – she probably didn't realize she was doing it. When a commercial came on, she glanced over to Dirk who she could tell was tense. She laid her head down on his chest and sighed. "Thank you for being so nice to me." she paused for a moment, "Thank you for being my friend."

"You're welcome." Dirk answered studdering.

"I like you." She added.

"I—I like you too." Dirk replied unsure of where this was going.

"You feel so warm, so kind...so gentle." Skuld elaborated.

"Okay...thank you?" Dirk replied, not sure how to answer her.

"Would you hold me?" She asked, now looking up into his eyes.

"Hold you?" Dirk asked. She had been his first ever girl friend...if he could even think that yet. He's seen in movies how a guy would put his arm around a girl, but never did it before. "O—okay." He finally answered, and wrapped his arms around her, holding her gently around her stomach. Skuld smiled as she exhaled through her nose gently and closed her eyes. For the first time in two days, she felt safe.

"Skuld?" Dirk asked, but she didn't answer. Her breathing was slow and steady. She had fallen asleep on top of him. He sighed gently and couldn't help but to smile. He noticed a gentle aroma of lavender as he inhaled. Looking down at her sleeping body, he wrapped his other arm around her as well and finished watching the silly cartoon before falling asleep himself from boredom.

August 8, 2:30 am

Terry made his way inside the tiny trailer, spotting the television was still on tuned to Adult Swim. "Man I love this show." He commented to himself. Then he looked over to the couch and saw the pair of teens sleeping in an interlocked fashion. He turned around and went back outside.

"Alright. I've got good news and bad news." Terry reported.

"What's the bad news?" Andy asked raising an eyebrow.

"She's sleeping on top of the boy on the couch." Terry responded.

"So.. what's the good news?" Andy asked, almost scared.

"Adult Swim is on."

Andy and Jeff face-faulted, each taking their turn slapping Terry in the back of his head.

"Dumb-ass." Jeff commented.

"We'll smoke 'em out." Jeff said and scoured the area for flamibles.

"Are you sure that's a good idea?" Terry asked.

"Yeah. We'll grab the girl as she's running outside." Jeff replied grinning.

"What about the boy?" Andy asked. Jeff looked right at Andy with an evil stare. "I really don't care. Knock him out, through him in the back...who really gives a damn."

"Okay, you're the boss." Andy said and pulled out a lighter. Jeff found a can of gasoline sitting in the yard. Taking an old rag sitting on top of a dismantled engine, he filled a beer bottle with the gas and then stuffed the rag inside leaving just the tip exposed. Andy lit the exposed end which immediately set itself ablaze. With a well aimed toss, the beer bottle shattered in the living room, exploding everything around the room into bright orange flames.

Dirk was the first to wake up, hearing the crackling around him. Seeing his home burning, he shook Skuld awake, who screamed still half asleep.

"It's okay, but we gotta get out of here, now!" Dirk said with urgency.

"The two teens got up and ran out the front door, not a moment too soon. Jeff grabbed Skuld, just as he had planned, while Andy punched Dirk in the face. Moments later, the trailer exploded as the flames hit a propane tank in the kitchen, blowing everybody off their feet. Skuld scampered away and ran into the nearby trees.

"Get her!" Jeff yelled pointing in the direction the girl ran. While Dirk got up on his feet and continued the fight with Andy, throwing a left and right hook into Andy's large body. Terry ran after Skuld in the woods, quickly followed by Jeff who was rapidly catching up to Skuld. Unfortunately, Skuld tripped on a root sticking out of the ground and fell flat on her face. Jeff caught up to her and threw himself down on top of her body. She gasped for air as he knocked the wind out of her. Terry finally caught up and helped Jeff up, who held tightly onto Skuld's long black hair, forcing her to a standing position. Skuld cried out in intense pain.

"Ouch! Stop it!!"

"Speaking English? …. Simply amazing." Jeff commented and tugged again on her hair.

"Ouch!" Skuld cried out again, tears glistened in her eyes, being reflected from the nearby flames.

"Oh look. She's gonna cry." Andy said mocking her like a little girl. Skuld glared angrily at the man with blond hair. Jeff saw the anger in her eyes, and threw her down to the ground with force. At which point, Skuld couldn't contain her tears any more and began sobbing in pain. Jeff picked her back up, tugging on the back of her dress. He walked her to the van, with her stumbling the whole way there, fighting with each step. Terry had already opened the back of the van. Skuld gasped when she saw Dirk was already back there, tied up and unconscious. In a swift motion, Jeff tossed her up and inside the van. Terry climbed in the back and began tying Skuld up, this time with her hands behind her back. Jeff shut the doors and climbed back into the driver seat. Slowly he moved out of the drive way and headed back towards the city to the North.


	10. Chapter 9: Wish Granted!

**Disclaimer:**

* * *

_Ah! My Goddess_ and all of its associated characters, plot devices, and fictional settings are owned and maintained by its creator, Kosuki Fujishima ( © 1988 – 2010 ). Any other characters specifically created for this fictional work are fictitious. Any similarity to any persons, living or dead is purely coincidental.

Chapter Nine: Wish Granted!

Cincinnati – Baxters Pub and Treats, August 8, 3:14 am...

"That took a little longer than I thought it would." Keiichi remarked, finally glad to be done with the teleportation journey.

"It wouldn't have taken so long if we all had one common direction." Urd grumbled, also glad to be done traveling.

"So now what? It's the middle of the night here...and we're in a restaurant bathroom...a closed restaurant." Megumi commented.

"We go outside. Skuld is obviously still not here, but we know we're close to her." Belldandy said cheerfully. "We just have to be patient."

Interstate 71 North, 35 north of Cincinnati, August 8, 3:15 am...

Skuld looked at Terry with an evil stare.

"What are you lookin' at?" Terry said angrily, staring back at Skuld.

"Where are you taking us?" She said dangerously.

"Why should you care? When we get there, we're going to have some fun with you." Terry said, putting his hand on her knee, riding it upward along her skin.

"Stop it!" Skuld yelled and tried to shift her body away from Terry's hand. Terry grinned wickedly seeing the young girl squirm.

"Sounds like Terry is getting fresh with the girl back there Jeff." Andy commented gazing back through the cage.

"Relax lover boy....there's going to be plenty of time for that at the beach." Jeff said firmly.

"I'm just messin' with her, Jeff. – You said to --" He began explaining.

"I know what I said." Jeff snapped back. "And you'll have plenty of time to screw with her when we get there."

'_Screw with me?_' Skuld shivered at the thoughts her brain dreamed up that he'd do with her. Then without another though, Skuld spit on Terry.

"Why you little –" Terry grumbled but Jeff cut him off.

"Knock it off." he said frustrated as he pulled into an empty parking lot. The two men in the front got out of the van and opened up the back doors. Terry tossed Skuld out onto the asphalt and then threw Dirk out next to her. Andy picked up Dirk and slung him over his shoulder, while Terry hopped out and shut the doors behind him, then picked up Skuld, dragging her behind him by her hair.

"Ow! Stop!!" Skuld cried in pain, staggering behind Terry.

"Shut up." Terry tossed back at Skuld, now dragging her in the cool tan sand by her wrists. Andy dropped Dirk at the edge of the beach. Tiny waves coming off the lake gently splashed not too far away. Terry whipped Skuld around him, tossing her onto the ground next to Dirk.

"Now..." Jeff began, staring right at Skuld, grinning. "it's time for some payback." He walked up to Dirk and kicked him square in the chest, his conscienceless body didn't respond. Terry knocked Skuld down onto the ground, pressing his boot into her chest. She looked up at the midnight sky, seeing the big dipper and Orion staring back down at her. The next thing she felt was a hand feeling her along her chest.

"Stop!" Skuld cried out squirming helplessly in the sand. She closed her eyes wishing that he she could just throw the man off her, and bury his face in the sand. Moments later, a thirty foot wave came crashing down on the group, Terry was thrown off of Skuld, and rammed into the beach face first, while Jeff and Andy were swept far up land. The riptide pulled Skuld helplessly into the lake.

Dirk abruptly woke up hearing Skuld's cries for help after the splash of cool water drenched him. He looked around to see Skuld being pulled towards the middle of the lake, while the three men were confused and scrambling around. Seeing that they were distracted, he groaned as he lifted himself to his feet and stumbled into the water. Once the water was up to his waist, he dove in and began swimming out to Skuld, who had now fallen below the waterline.

Dirk swam out to where he last saw Skuld's head bobbing in the current, and then dove downwards. Grains of floating sand burned his eyes as he blindly searched the mucky water waving his hands out in front of him. Running out of air, he was forced to the surface. Once there, he gasped for a deep breath of air, and dove back down into the brown water. Diving even deeper than before, he scoured the water, reaching the rocky bottom he found a lock of hair dancing delicately in the current. He followed the hair until he found her head, and then grabbed her around her chest, and tried to lift her up. Her feet were snagged by some seaweeds, halting his ascension.

Dirk cursed, bubbles escaped out of his mouth as he found the tangle and yanked on the weeds, freeing Skuld's body. With all of his might, he kicked his feet slowly rising to the top. Once there he again gasped for air and swam with Skuld tucked under his arm to the closest shore. Dirk tripped on a rock and the pair went flying into some bushes, but that didn't stall Dirk too long. Panicking, he laid Skuld on her back and mumbled. "I wish I learned how to do CPR!"

Dirk thought back to the many movies he's seen and gently placed his hands on Skuld's chest. He pressed down, fearing he'd break her ribs if he put too much pressure on her. He counted "One, Two, Three, Four, Five." Pushing down with each number. Then he pinched her nose shut with his fingers and took a deep breath, blowing it into her limp mouth. Seeing that it had no effect, he again tried compressing on her chest. "One, Two, Three, Four, Five!" Again, he blow into her mouth. A moment later, Skuld spewed up a bucket worth of water and coughed, chocking on the water. Quickly Dirk turned Skuld onto her side to let the water escape from her throat. He propped up Skuld, pushing her up on her back, and once she sat up, he brushed the wet strands of hair away from her face.

"I wish you'd never leave my side again." Dirk said smiling gently.

Yggdrasil - Latitude: 39.512234N, Longitude 84.011765W 3:52:24 am...

The control room to Yggdrasil was only minimally staffed. A goddess clerk noticed on a nearby monitor a message flashed,

"Incoming wish request, granter: Goddess Skuld, Second Class, Restricted license."

Under that very console was a white bunny-rabbit looking thing with eight legs chewing on some exposed wires. Electricity sparked, zapping the bug. The stench of burning fur filled the room.

"We got another bug!" the clerk called out, pushing on a nearby button, ignoring the console.

"Granter is sibling to Goddess First Class, Belldandy, Unrestricted license. Incoming request granted." The terminal displayed, and circuits connected through out the vast tree. Moments later down on Earth...

Belldandy was crotched down on the ground showing a holographic image of Skuld to a chipmunk when she abruptly stood up. A brilliant narrow blue beam ascended from her forehead and reached into the heavens.

"I – I didn't do it this time!" Keiichi stuttered and defended himself holding his hands out in front of him, beads of sweat glistened on his forehead under the moonlight.

"Didn't do … what?" Megumi asked hesitatingly, looking right into Keiichi's eyes.

"Made a wish." Urd answered for him. Moments later Belldandy collapsed to the ground. Keiichi rushed to her side.

"A wish? Like what K did three years ago?" Megumi inquired.

"Exactly." Urd answered plainly. "Somebody here made a wish."

"Oh." Megumi said.

"Did you?" Keiichi turned back and stared Megumi in her eyes.

"Um.. no?" She answered.

"You didn't say '_I wish..._' anything?" Keiichi accused.

"No!" Megumi defended.

A few moments later another narrow blue beam descended from the heavens, but instead of hitting Belldandy, it seemed to hit the ground about twenty miles away.

"This just got interesting." Urd said grinning.

"She's that way." Belldandy said, breathing heavily, pointing towards the descending blue beam. Rind smiled. "Come on. Let's go. Everybody join hands." She commanded.

Belldandy joined hands with Keiichi, who held Megumi's hands. Urd grabbed hands between Rind and Megumi, finally Rind clasped Belldandy's hand. A second later a lightning bolt struck the ground where they stood, after which, the group was gone.

A bright blue beam struck Skuld on her forehead. For a fraction of a second, her blue teardrops visibly glowed. After the beam finished, they vanished once again, and Skuld gasped for air. Her whole body tingled. A second later, Skuld passed out.

"What was that?" Andy said, watching the blue beam hit the shore not too far away from where he stood.

"Let's go check it out." Jeff directed, and began walking towards the impact.

"Come on. We gotta get out of here." Dirk said gently. He helped Skuld up onto her feet and the pair of them ran though the woods snapping saplings and twigs with their bodies.

A grand lighting bolt struck the ground about twenty feet away from where Skuld was moments ago. After the light vanished, four goddesses and two mortals stood in its place.

"She's gotta be close." Rind remarked. Not so much as a few seconds passed, when Jeff, Andy, and Terry made their way through the tree line to the new shore.

"You!" Belldandy glared. A violent wind picked up in the background. Small tree limbs broke from their tree bodies and flew around in the turbulence.

"Bell, not now, please." Rind suggested. "First we need to find Skuld."

The three men turned tail and ran the other way through the trees back towards the white cargo van. Meanwhile, Urd flew up into the sky to see what she could observe.

"I – I need to stop." Skuld panted heavily between words. Dirk acknowledged her request and the two sat down next to a large maple tree.

"I think we lost them. We should be safe for a little while." He said. Skuld nodded while taking a deep breath.

"I'll go collect some twigs so we can get a little warmer, okay?" Dirk said as he rested against against the tree, his leg touching hers. He tried to get up, but noticed his leg wouldn't move.

"What's wrong?" Skuld asked, seeing him struggle.

"I don't know. I can't move my leg...it's like it's asleep or something." Dirk remarked.

Skuld reached out with her arm, which Dirk grabbed and helped pull her upright. Dirk's leg moved.

"That's like weird." Dirk said, and now noticed he couldn't let go of her hand. "I – uh... can't let go of you." Dirk laughed nervously.

"That's so sweet." Skuld replied smiling. Dirk returned her smile, which quickly turned to a frown.

"I mean it. I can't let go of you." He said, tugging on her arm. Skuld continued smiling thinking he was pulling her leg, and tried let go of his hand just to humor him. She couldn't let go either.

"What?" Skuld said, her face had the most remarkable puzzled look on it. "So like we're stuck together?" she thought out loud.

"It looks like it." Dirk replied.

"What are we going to do?" Skuld asked.

"I don't know for now. I do have an idea though." He said and took a step closer and wrapped his other arm around Skuld's back, giving her a full embrace.

"It's a nice night out, and... it'd be a shame to waste the starlight view." He said softly. "I never want to loose you … I mean... we've only known each other for a few hours... and …. I feel so.... comfortable with you around...and that's never happened to me before with a girl." Dirk's voice was trembling, yet he had a certain confidence about him.

Had it been any brighter out, Skuld would have seen him blushing. Skuld smiled at the revelation, and embraced him back with both of her arms, finding that she could now free her hand from his grip. Her eyes shined with innocence under the pale moon light, and she took each breath long and slow. Dirk felt her warmth as she pressed against his shirt, and ever so slightly, he noticed the aroma of lavender again.

"Do you smell that?" Dirk asked softly.

"Smell what?"

"Lavender. It's so sweet...so calming."

Skuld inhaled deeply and smiled looking up into Dirk's eyes. "Yes, yes I do." She closed her eyes for a moment and grinned strongly. Softly she whispered, "I think we belong together."

"You believe in fate?" Dirk asked.

"I don't know, but I do know that it feels right being with you."

Dirk smiled. A girl he had only met hours earlier truly wanted to be with him, not because she had to, but because she wanted to. He felt a special warmth course through his body. He closed his eyes and mustered up some courage. Opening his eyes, he slowly pressed his lips against hers. To his surprise, she pressed back just as gently. Seconds seemed like an eternity and when they finally separated, Dirk tingled with excitement.

"Wow. That was truly amazing. I never kissed a girl before." he admitted.

"Did you like it?" She asked feeling a bit insecure.

"Yes. Very much. It was wonderful. I think I'll treasure it always." Dirk said smiling. Skuld returned his smile with a smile, and blushing a brilliant shade of red even Dirk could see under the moon light.

"We should probably rest for a little while." Dirk suggested.

"Okay." Skuld replied.

"I'd like to do that... holding thing we did earlier." He admitted. Skuld turned her body around so her back was facing he chest, and both of them flopped to the ground. Skuld sat in between Dirk's outstretched legs, and rested her head under his chin.

"I think it's going to take a while to get used to this....uh...condition we have." Dirk said feeling that his butt was now sore after landing on a root.

"Maybe whatever this is will go away?" Skuld replied. " --- not that I want it to. I feel cozy and safe right now." she tacked on.

"I like it too." Dirk whispered.

Skuld's breathing was slow and steady, and the aroma of fresh lavender filled the air. It wasn't too long before Dirk had fallen asleep as well. Tomorrow was going to be an interesting day.

"I don't see her. She can't be too far though." Urd said coming down from the sky.

"I know she's near." Belldandy said. "I feel her …. she feels... safe." Belldandy confessed.

"How do you know what's she's feeling?" Keiichi asked, still not quite comfortable with the idea of the three sisters having this _link_ between them.

"She is really close. … and the feelings she has right now is very strong." Belldandy explained.

"Maybe we should set up a camp for the remainder of the night?" Megumi suggested feeling the chilly breeze off the lake.

"That's a good idea." Urd said giving Keiichi _that_ look. The look that she'd always give him when it was a good time to make a move on her younger sister. This time, Skuld wasn't around to interfere, so it was almost perfect.

"What about a tent? Sleeping bags? Food??" Keiichi listed the various things he was used to having on a camping trip.

"We shall be fine Keiichi." Belldandy said cheerfully. She was very optimistic that tomorrow she would find Skuld and they could all go back to the Temple again.

"Go on Keiichi. Be a man!" Megumi whispered from behind him, nearly scaring him to death. "There's a nice secluded spot over there." She said seductively.

"Meg, not now." Keiichi chastised.

"You're hopeless K." Megumi shouted back.

"What's wrong?" Belldandy asked.

"Huh? Oh... um...nothing Bell." Megumi lied.

"I'm going to get some firewood." Keiichi said firmly and walked off towards the tree line.

"What's wrong with him?" Rind asked noticing the tension in the air could be cut with a butter knife. Urd pulled Rind over to the side and whispered, "This is a good time for Keiichi to .. well.. be a man.. and comfort Belldandy with some romance. … but as usual, he's being a chicken."

"Oh." Rind said exhaling. "Perhaps I should help collect some wood then." She volunteered and walked off after him.

"You know, it's not like me to interfere in one's romantic life." Rind said finally catching up to Keiichi.

"Oh, not you too." Keiichi whined.

"Do not worry. I don't plan on interfering. Only to offer a suggestion." Rind said as she squatted down to pick up a rather large hunk of deadwood.

"What's that?" Keiichi turned to the goddess.

"Belldandy needs you now.... more than ever." Rind said looking right into Keiichi's brown eyes.

"You know, I don't think you realize just how close Belldandy is to Skuld."

"They are sisters." Keiichi pointed out the obvious but completely missed the point.

"Did Belldandy ever tell you what happened to their mother?" Rind asked.

"No." Keiichi responded.

"I'll let her explain it if she wants. What's more important is the fact that she raised Skuld by herself for the most part. – Don't get me wrong, Urd was there too, but it was Belldandy who wiped her nose, cleaned her cuts, made sure she had plenty to eat, and gave her the kind of love that only a mother is supposed to show her children." Rind explained.

"So.. Skuld is more like ..." his voice trailed off to a whisper, "her daughter?" Keiichi looked right up and into Rind's eyes.

"Yes." Rind answered. "Technically, they are sisters indeed, but their love for one another is a much stronger bond."

"So... she's taking this harder than she's letting on." Keiichi put the pieces together, as if a light bulb lit up above his head.

"Yes." Rind replied. "She hides her own emotions very well. …. It comes with the job I guess."

"So, what should I do?" Keiichi asked.

"I've never been any good at romance myself... but if it were me...." She pondered for a moment. "A hug would be a welcome gesture." She turned and walked back towards the beach carrying a pile of small branches. Keiichi leaned up against a tree and thought for a moment. He whispered to himself, "I can do this.", and smiled. Then he walked back to the beach himself.

"I summon LIGHTNING!" Urd exclaimed with her hands held above her head. A white lightning bolt struck the ground, igniting a large pile of wood.

"Wasn't that a little dramatic?" Peorth said plainly.

"You think so?" Urd snapped back. "Too bad."

"Show off." Peorth replied back.

Keiichi spotted Belldandy as she was fixing up some grass to sleep on . Confidently he walked up to Belldandy and stopped right behind her.

"Um, Belldandy?" He said, his voice trembled slightly.

"Yes? Hi Keiichi!" Belldandy smiled as she turned to face him.

Without further delay, Keiichi wrapped his arms around Belldandy, taking her by surprise. "Oh!"

"I thought you could use that." Keiichi said braking the embrace.

"I'm glad you did Keiichi." Belldandy said and resumed her cleaning, smiling to herself.


	11. Chapter 10: A Walk in the Park

**Disclaimer:**

* * *

_Ah! My Goddess_ and all of its associated characters, plot devices, and fictional settings are owned and maintained by its creator, Kosuki Fujishima ( © 1988 – 2010 ). Any other characters specifically created for this fictional work are fictitious. Any similarity to any persons, living or dead is purely coincidental.

Chapter Ten: A day in the park.

August 8, 8:10 am...

Skuld woke up with something sticking her in her back. She shifted her weight and as she did so, she woke Dirk up, who immediately blushed fiercely.

"Ow...I must have slept on a stick or something." Skuld commented as Dirk helped her to a standing position. She turned to face him, and smiled as she tried to fix the sun dress that clung to her body like SaranWrap.

"Why are you blushing?" She asked innocently.

"Um...ah....uh....um....yeah......" Dirk stumbled around, not trying to draw attention to himself. "I have to pee." Dirk finally said quickly.

"Oh." Skuld said and giggled holding her free hand to her mouth while turning a shade of pink herself. She tugged on her hand, finding it had still not been freed while she slept.

"Um.. I think we still have our little problem." Skuld said, holding up her hand, raising Dirk's at the same time.

"Yeah, so it does." Dirk remarked. "This could … be complicated." he added feeling a certain urgency down below.

"Yeah." Skuld blushed, thinking of how she would do her own business.

"Well, for now, I think... we can manage." Dirk said glancing over at a nearby tree. "Come on." He took a few steps over to the giant oak, with Skuld at his side.

"How is a tree going to help us?" Skuld inquired.

"Well, um.. I'll ...uh.. do my thing....and you can turn around.... and then... um... you do....whatever it is you need to, and I'll turn around." Dirk explained his crude plan with optimism.

"Um.. okay." Skuld said, as she turned around. She looked at the other trees around, spotted a blue bird chirping merrily, even found that annoying fly that just won't leave one alone. Dirk undid his pants and moments later a gentle tinkling sound splashed along the ground. Curiosity brewed to a boil in the front of her mind. Slowly she turned her head and peered over her shoulder. And blushed. When Dirk finished, she quickly turned her head back, her long black hair followed gently.

"Alright, your turn." Dirk said, leading Skuld up to another tree.

"O—okay." Skuld walked up to the tree and turned around with her back facing the trunk. Dirk took that as the cue to turn around and carefully watched a nest of birds. Skuld meanwhile squatted down and lifted her dress up.

"It's big?" Skuld asked, the question burning in her mind.

"What!?" Dirk accused and turned around to look at Skuld. Both of witch blushed. Dirk whipped his head around upon seeing his friend exposed.

"You peeked!" Dirk grumbled.

"Yeah...I – I couldn't help it....I'm sorry." Skuld said, finishing up and standing.

"You know what that means?" Dirk said, grinning with an evil smile.

"W—what?" Skuld answered uncomfortably.

"I … get to....." Dirk said, folding his fingers as if they were claws holding them chest high. Skuld gulped, thinking she knew what he'd ask for.

"TICKLE YOU!" he launched after her and the two fell onto a grassy patch. Skuld giggled with uncontrollable fits of laughter. "Stop it...Stop it!!" She giggled. After he was satisfied, he stopped, his hand rested on her knee. Skuld smiled up at Dirk.

"That was fun." Skuld said cheerfully.

"You want more?" Dirk grinned back moving his fingers for more.

"Maybe later." She answered.

"Okay, I'll remember that. Besides, you owe me." Dirk winked.

"Yeah. I know." Skuld smile faded as nervousness overtook her emotions.

"Hey. Relax. You're the pervert here, not me."

"Pervert?"

"Yeah, you're the one who peeked at me. … I'm kinda jealous." Dirk explained.

"I---I'll make it up to you … sometime." Skuld replied shyly.

Overcast clouds covered the morning sky and a chilly breeze blew through the trees overhead, and Skuld shivered.

"Come here." Dirk gave Skuld's hand a tug and followed her arm lightly up to her shoulder and then wrapped his arm around her back, pulling her closely to him. "I've got an idea." Dirk said smiling. Skuld looked into Dirk's eyes with anticipation.

"Let's go for a hike." he suggested.

"Okay." Skuld answered.

"It could be _romantic_." Dirk said casually smiling. Skuld returned his smile.

Keiichi was the first one to wake up of the the two of the group that slept during the night. Belldandy, Urd, Peorth, and Rind were all sitting around the fire discussing the area. Keiichi rocked Megumi's shoulder to wake her. She punched Keiichi right in the face.

"Ow!" Keiichi moaned. "What was that for?"

"Oh my god! I'm so sorry K!" she apologized once she sat upright. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah. I'm just fine." Keiichi replied and walked over to the four goddesses.

"Those tracks are fresh." Urd stated.

"You said you saw two pairs of foot prints?" Belldandy asked.

"Yes. And they looked like they were in a hurry too." Urd replied.

"Why do you say that?" Peorth asked.

"Because there are broken twigs and branches all along their path." Urd answered.

"Do you think Skuld was here?" Keiichi asked naively.

"Yes." Belldandy said cheerfully.

"We're here aren't we?" Rind said sarcastically.

"Yeah." Keiichi said, realizing this question was silly.

"If it was Skuld, she's got a three hour head start on us. She can't be too far though." Peorth commented.

Let's get going and find her then!" Megumi cheered.

The white cargo van sat in a vacant parking lot.

"So the sisters are here." Andy remarked.

"How'd they get here so fast?" Terry inquired.

"Mara did say they were goddesses. Maybe there's something to that after all … I mean last night when she saw us...what was with that wind?" Jeff said.

"Hmm, maybe we need to take out the sisters?" Andy suggested.

"Maybe we can increase our fee." Jeff said grinning.

"If you think we can take them out." Andy commented. "She seemed a little pissed off at seeing you."

"Yeah. Exactly the reason we need to take her out." Jeff said.

"Maybe we could use her little sister as bait?" Terry suggested.

"We'd have to get her little sister back first." Andy replied.

Out of nowhere a woman sporting long spiked platinum hair knocked on the driver side window, with a single knuckle, startling Jeff. He eyed the woman revealing quite a bit of her cleavage, dressed in an open red skin tight looking cocktail dress. Jeff smiled as he rolled down his window. The woman leaned up against the van putting some of her weight on the window ledge.

"Can I help you?" Jeff asked casually.

"I believe we can help each other." the woman said plainly and smiled seductively.

"Oh?" Jeff inquired with a puzzled look on her face.

The girl you want is walking through the woods about three miles from here."

"Who are you?" Andy peered over leaning forward.

"Oh, how silly of me. I am Hild." She answered smiling even broader.

"Nice to meet you Hild. I'm – " Jeff replied but was cut off.

"Yes, I know who you are Jeff...and you're Andy... and you, you're Terry...and quite naughty I must add." She smiled seductively once more.

"I—I'm not naughty!" Terry declared, refusing to accept Hild's interpretation of his character.

"I hate to break it to you sweety, but.... yes you are. In fact, you're still carrying that picture of Skuld in your left shirt pocket.." Hild pointed out. "But don't worry, it's okay by me." She smiled slyly. "That trait of yours could be most valuable... if put to use correctly."

"What are you talking about?" Jeff finally interrupted.

"It's really quite simple." She began. "Bring the girl to Fifth and Main. There is an abandoned factory there." She paused and grinned evilly staring right at Terry.

"And?" Jeff said, prompting Hild to continue.

"Torture her. ….. It'll be lots of fun." She said seductively.

"So what's in it for you then lady?" Andy asked.

"The group of women following her will follow her there... and then I'll get what I want." Hid smiled. "But you have to do your part." She eyed Terry dangerously. "But don't go overboard."

"Somehow, I don't think that will be a problem." Jeff commented smiling.

"I'll be waiting for you." Hild said and walked off.

"So...what does she want me to do?" Terry asked naively.

"Dumb-ass... she said we're going to torture her. That'll bring her sisters. I have a hunch that's what she wants." Jeff explained.

"Sounds like fun." Andy said grinning. "I can't wait to rough up that dude."

"Just don't kill him, he may be useful." Jeff cautioned.

Andy reached into the glove box and pulled out a map of the park. "She said she's like three miles from here. That would put her on this trail." Andy pointed . "If we drive to this lot over here, we can grab her, since she'll only be a few feet from the lot."

"Yeah, but we'll have to time it just right. It sounds like we need to lure the others to follow us." Jeff said plainly. "I've got an idea."

August 8, 1:10 pm....

Dirk helped Skuld up a small mound and dense vegetation. He had tried to play twenty questions with her, over the past four hours, hoping that he'd get to know her better, but that game quickly turned to a one-way Q and A session, with Skuld being the one asking all the questions that could be answered.

"Hey. Do you hear that?" Dirk said, abruptly halting. The sound of a passing car was heard not too far away. "I think we did it! We found a road!" Skuld smiled widely, and squeezed Dirk's hand tightly. Dirk pushed some bushes out of the way and slid through the thorned branches which dug into his stomach and arms as he passed through.

"Be careful. These thorns are long and sharp. Skuld nodded and tried to slide in between the branches, not completely succeeding, several of the thorns sliced into her dress. Dirk heard the gentle tearing sounds and looked down at Skuld's stomach as she cleared the brush.

"Are you okay?!" Dirk said, running his fingers along the fresh tears.

"Yeah. I'm fine." Skuld said. Dirk noticed there was no cuts into her skin.

"Wow, you got lucky." Dirk said, running his fingertips into the torn clothing, only finding smooth skin underneath. Skuld giggled slightly.

"That tickles." She said quietly.

"Oh. Sorry." Dirk said looking up into her eyes. Skuld glanced up and saw Terry standing there in front of her. She screamed. Dirk whipped around and saw Terry, but couldn't' move fast enough to react. Terry hit him with a lead pipe on his head, knocking him out cold. Skuld resisted, but was unable to flee, her stomach still bonded to Dirk's fingertips. Terry dropped the pipe on the ground and scooped up Skuld, dragging Dirk's unconscious body along the ground throwing the both of them into the van. Meanwhile Jeff picked up the pipe and spelled out a note, carving deeply into the dirt with the pipe.

August 8, 3:52 pm...

Rind led the way through the vegetation, carefully following the foot prints ahead of them.

"Are we close yet do you think?" Keiichi asked again for the fifth time today.

"Judging from the footprints, it looks like they were taking their time. We should catch up pretty soon." Rind explained finding the thorny bushes, she took out her Axe and sliced a path into them.

"Uh oh." she said looking down.

"What is it?" Belldandy asked concerned.

_IF YOU WANT SKULD BACK_

_MEET US AT 5TH AND MAIN_

_TODAY._

Rind read the note aloud and picked up a pair of girls tennis shoes with a sock stuff in each shoe as the rest of the group caught up.

"Well, at least we know where she is." Urd pointed out optimistically.

"Yeah...if we knew where Fifth and Main were." Megumi replied sarcastically.

"Let's go find a map. There's a gas station over there." Keiichi pointed to a BP. The group walked across the street and up a ways until finally reaching the station. The lot was vacant of cars. Urd was the first one in, and scanned the room for a rack of maps. While Rind walked up to the counter and asked for directions.

"Excuse me." Rind said with authority.

"Yes?" A clerk in his early twenties replied.

"Can you tell us how to get to Fifth and Main street?"

"Yeah, sure. Just follow this road about twenty miles to the south, and you'll run into Main street. Turn right, and Fifth should be about three miles down." The clerk answered.

"Okay, thank you." Rind said and walked out of the store. A few minutes later Urd and Belldandy walked out. Peorth, Megumi, and Keiichi just stood there outside waiting.

"I know where to go now." Rind said.

"I do too." Urd also said holding a map in her hand.

"Where did you get that?" Keiichi asked Urd.

"I just took it off the rack." Urd answered innocently.

"Urd!" Keiichi exclaimed. "You can't do that!! That's stealing!" Keiichi chastised.

"I'm gonna give it back when we're done with it." Urd said plainly.

"Urd!" Keiichi persisted.

"Come on, let's go." Rind took command.

"We're... going to walk twenty miles?" Megumi asked?

"No." Rind said. We're going to teleport and hopefully gain the element of surprise."

Abandoned Factory at Fifth and Main street, August 8, 3:40 pm....

Terry pushed Skuld down as he straddled her body on the ledge of a giant tub filled with near freezing water. Dirk laid next to her still unconscious, his hand resting on hers.

"Its interesting that you two can't be separated. No matter though, I'll have fun with both of you." Terry whispered into Skuld's ear, then he yanked on Skuld's dress, tearing it off of her left shoulder. Skuld shivered with fear and squeezed her eyes shut tightly, grasping Dirk's limp hand tightly with all of her strength.

"Hey, dumb-ass! She said not to go overboard!" Jeff yelled, slapping the back of Terry's head with his open palm.

"Ow!" Terry said rubbing the back of his head. "At least let me have a little fun with her!" He whined.

"No. You're not." Jeff reminded him. "Look at her, she's already terrified. Why not have some fun with her little boy friend instead."

"Fine." Terry said, his voice was full of disappointment. "But what can I do to him...he's still out cold."

Jeff looked into Terry's eyes, and then down at Skuld, seeing her tight grip on Dirk's hand and smiled, looking back at Terry.

"Maybe something like this." Jeff said coldly and balled up his fist and slammed it down into Dirk's wrist. His limp hand shot open even with Skuld's tight grip restraining it. Dirk bit his tongue feeling the extreme pain course through his arm. A trickle of blood slowly drained out of the corner of his mouth.

"Stop it! You're hurting him!" Skuld screamed.

"I know." Jeff smirked and rammed his fist into Dirk's stomach, forcing all of the air out of his lungs. Unconsciously he gasped for air, unable to gain any.

"Stop!" Skuld cried, a tear running down her cheek.

"This is more torture to her than hurting her." Andy grinned and joined in punching Dirk's limp body as Terry put all of his weight onto Skuld's body when she tried to squirm out of his hold.

"Oh no you don't." Terry said, and grabbed her by her torn shoulder sleeve. "Go on... I dare you." Terry said grinning. Skuld trembled seeing the seriousness in his eyes. Jeff took another turn at Dirk, raising his leg high, and dropping his boot heel onto Dirk's shin.

"No!" Skuld screamed. Dirk's eyes popped open and he shouted in agony, and rolled over onto his side curling up into a fetal position, facing Skuld.

A brilliant bolt of lighting crackled outside. A single boom of thunder rumbled through the cloudy sky. Rind along with Belldandy, Urd, Peorth, and Keiichi and Megumi stood in the rear of the factory near an emergency exit.

"This is it. Let's go." Rind commanded as she yanked open the door showing only a fraction of her true strength.

"Hey! Somebody's here! Go check it out." Jeff said looking at Terry as he spotted the back door being opened with the flood of light from the outside entering. Terry climbed off of the girl and stealthily kept down the stairs towards the rear of the building. Skuld fought her way up to a sitting position and cradled Dirk in her arms.

"Why are you doing this?!" Skuld demanded, glaring at Jeff.

"Because I feel like it." Jeff answered, not giving any real reason to his victim, and swung at her with his fist. Skuld weaved back and lost her balance, falling down into the icy bath below, dragging Dirk with her. She screamed as her body hit the nearly frozen water and frantically splashed around panicking.

"Skuld?!" Belldandy called out hearing her younger sisters voice echoing in the room. Terry leapt down in front of the goddesses and picked up a copper pipe that was laying on the floor. Without a though he swung the pipe at the girls, but Rind had saw that coming and deflected his blow with her battle axe.

"You wanna fight do you?" Rind glared at Terry. She knew that she couldn't kill him, not legally, but the thought had crossed her mind after everything this punk put Bell through. Terry retrieved the pipe and lunged at her again. Rind moved her axe and deflected the blow without a second though.

"Go find Skuld." Rind said. "I've got this." Urd and Belldandy went around Terry and were stopped by Andy who had pulled a gun, aiming it at the two goddesses.

"You can't be serious." Urd said playfully and laughed.

"I'm glad you finally came, daughter." A voice called out from the darkness.

"Hild!" Peorth said with the taste of venom dripping out of her mouth. The platinum blond walked out into the light standing next to Andy. She placed her palm gently on his pistol and lowered his arm. "Now now, that won't be necessary." She cooed.

"What do you want...._mother_?" Urd asked, her voice was full of irritation as she glared at the older demon.

"What do I always want from you darling?" Hild answered with a question.

"No. My answer is, and will always be no." Urd gritted her teeth and took a step closer to the demon.

"Okay, have it your way then. Skuld will most certainly die then." Hild said turning her back on Urd.

Meanwhile Skuld was still scrambling and splashing around in the water. Dirk fought as hard as he could to stay afloat, but the cold waters were already taking their toll along with his recent injuries. Dirk's lips had turned a shade of blue already and he visibly trembled in the frigid water.

"Help!" Skuld cried out hoping that her captures at least had mercy. Keiichi had taken the opportunity while everybody else seemed distracted, he quietly walked around the darkened edge of the building. Spotting a ladder on the far side of the tank he raced for it as soon as he was close enough. Jeff unfortunately spotted him and predicted where he was going. He walked over to the ladder, following the edge of the tank carefully.

Megumi saw that the man on the top was going to be waiting for Keiichi by the time he got up the ladder and made a break for the tank, dodging both Hild and Andy. She sprinted as fast as she could run and by the time she made it to the base of the ladder Keiichi was already at the top facing Jeff's cold eyes. Jeff took out a knife and sliced towards Keiichi, who barely managed to dodge the small six inch blade. Again and again, Jeff stroke and each time Keiichi was forced to take a step either to the side or back. Megumi made it up to the top of the ladder just in time for Jeff to punch Keiichi in the stomach. The Japanese man stumbled and fell face first into the cold pool of water below.

"Why don't you pick on somebody you're own size!" Megumi yelled and karate kicked Jeff square in the chest. She didn't relent her attack, displaying a rare glance at the martial arts she had picked up in her spare time. Peorth tried to teleport over tot the tank of water, but she found that she was unable to. Hild held up a single finger and waved it in the air.

"Oh no. I'm afraid I thought of that already dear. No goddess can pass through my barrier." She grinned wickedly. "You goddess are no match for me. Urd, you really should consider my offer." She paused and smiled once more, leaning closer to the goddess of the past. "It's the only way you're going to save little Skuld from dying."

Keiichi swam over to Skuld and the boy. He hardly moved and Skuld continued to panic, quickly loosing inches and sinking towards the bottom of the water. Keiichi grabbed downwards and grabbed Skuld by the back of her dress and then started drudging through the water back towards the ladder before he froze as well. Dirk's limp body floated next to Skuld's as Keiichi pulled the two towards the side.

"Keiichi!" Belldandy yelled full of concern. She wanted to go to him so badly, but she knew she couldn't overpower Hild's barrier. Silently, she whispered a melody.

"Relax Belldandy. It won't work. The only thing that can save your sister and your boy friend now is Urd." Hild suggested seductively.


End file.
